“Starting at the bottom is not about humiliation. It's about humility—a realistic assessment of where you are in the learning curve.”

“When the world is so complicated, the simple gift of friendship is within all of our hands.”

“I don't believe in gutter politics. I don't believe in gutter journalism.”

“I like to make jokes I consider myself a funny person. I just think making jokes about people who are in a situation beyond their control is not funny to them or their families.”

“No matter who you are, what you've accomplished, what your financial situation is - when you're dealing with a parent with Alzheimer's, you yourself feel helpless. The parent can't work, can't live alone, and is totally dependent, like a toddler. As the disease unfolds, you don't know what to expect.”

“The gift my mother gave me was the gift of possibility. From an early age, she instilled in me a belief that I could do anything I wanted to do. It wasn't a matter of, 'Can I?' or 'Should I?' It was just, 'You can, you must, you will!' She wanted me to believe that anything was possible.”

“Having kids - the responsibility of rearing good, kind, ethical, responsible human beings - is the biggest job anyone can embark on. As with any risk, you have to take a leap of faith and ask lots of wonderful people for their help and guidance. I thank God every day for giving me the opportunity to parent.”

“Having kids — the responsibility of rearing good, kind, ethical, responsible human beings — is the biggest job anyone can embark on”

“Comparing how you feel on the inside (bad) to the way someone else looks on the outside (great) is a losing proposition. It's an impossible standard.”

“Listen: You can't short-circuit the learning process. It takes time to get to the top, and that's good-because by the time you get there, you'll have learned what you need to know in order to stay there.”

“Starting at the bottom is not about humiliation. It's about humility—a realistic assessment of where you are in the learning curve.”