“If your happiness depends on what somebody else does, I guess you do have a problem.”

“Isn't that how it is when you must decide with your heart? You are not just choosing one thing over another. You are choosing what you want. And you are also choosing what somebody else does not want, and all the consequences that follow. You can tell yourself, That's not my problem, but those words do not wash the trouble away. Maybe it is no longer a problem in your life. But it is always a problem in your heart.”

“If you want to have the kind of relationship that your heart yearns for, you have to create it. You can't depend on somebody else creating it for you.”

“I guess what I'm trying to say is that you can't live somebody else's life for them. They have to make their own choices, and sometimes all we can do is learn to live with them.”

“Happiness does not depend on what happens outside of you, but what happens inside of you.”

“I wondered if having conversations with your dog was less crazy than babbling to yourself when no one else was around. I guess it depended on whether or not the dog answered.”