“The perceptions of middle age have their own luminosity.”

“I found that female pathfinders generally integrate characteristics commonly associated with being women - like the capacity to be intimate - with 'male' ones like ambition and courage.”

“I do think taking the 20s to take the most chances you can is important, because you're not going to hurt anyone else during that time. And if you do have a partner, you need a couple years to rehearse that relationship.”

“We really only have two choices. Play it safe, or take a chance. For me, pulling back because of fear has always made me feel worse.”

“When men reach their sixties and retire, they go to pieces. Women go right on cooking.”

“The delights of self-discovery are always available.”

“The perceptions of middle age have their own luminosity.”

“Being a pathfinder is to be willing to risk failure and still go on.”

“In my memoir, I admit that I've been as fearful of success as of failure. In fact, when 'Passages' was published, I so dreaded bad reviews that I ran away to Italy with a girlfriend and our children to hide out.”

“The delights of self-discovery are always available.”

“Transformation also means looking for ways to stop pushing yourself so hard professionally or inviting so much stress.”