Meghan Daum

“In the history of the world, a whole story has never been told.”

“Other dogs may do their jobs in their own unique and perfectly wonderful ways, but there will always be that dog that no dog will replace, the dog that will make you cry even when it's been gone for more years than it could ever have lived.”

“It is important for children to grow up in a world where there are all kinds of adults and role models around them, for them to know it's not just parents and people who are parents that care about them, but that there are people who are living other kinds of lives.”

“In the world of opinion writing, there's something called the 'to be sure' paragraph. A sort of rhetorical antibiotic, it seeks to defend against critics by injecting a tiny bit of counter-argument before moving on with the main point.”

“If you do the things you enjoy and are good at, I really have a feeling that that will lead to having a fulfilling life, and people with fulfilling lives are able to be 'good people.'”

“In my own writing, I tend to be very honest, and my goal is to identify something people think but are afraid to say. That's not the general cultural expectation of women.”

“Before digital and mobile communications effectively tethered us to an invisible, infinite 'wire,' even those with the most hectic schedules were usually willing to answer the phone if they happened to be home when it rang.”

“Becoming a parent is always going to be a default setting. I truly believe there will always be more people who want to have children than who don't.”

“Analyzing data from 79 men and women who wore inconspicuous devices that recorded some of their conversations over the course of four days, researchers from Washington University and the University of Arizona found a correlation between feelings of well-being and the amount of time spent talking every day. Moreover, the more substantive your conversations, the happier you're likely to be. In other words, heart-to-hearts trump small talk. (LA Times, "A lof of happy talk", March 11, 2010, A21.)”

“I always tell writers that it's good to have an area of expertise. It's a really practical answer, I know, but know about science or about sports or about medicine, so you can work as a science writer or a sports writer. Don't just know about yourself.”

“Confessions are not processed or analysed; they're told in a moment of desperation to a priest or to somebody interrogating you about a crime.”

“The truth is that most of your Facebook friends are too busy counting their own 'likes' to pay attention to you for more than a few seconds anyway. Unless you happen to be a kitten who's in love with a baby goat, in which case you should hire a publicist immediately.”

“Air travelers, of course, are famous for their hubris. They carry on too many bags and use the restroom when the seat-belt sign is on.”

“It's not that I don't get on bandwagons; I just climb aboard only after most of the band has packed up and left for the next gig.”

“It may take a village to raise a child, but not every villager needs to be a mom or dad. Some of us just need to be who we are.”

“You don't realize how much a dog's presence defines the contours of your home until, in its absence, the walls seem to relocate themselves.”

“Old-fashioned girl that I am, I still have a landline, though it rarely rings - and when it does, especially without warning, there's rarely anything good on the other end.”

“The search for happiness has long been a dominant feature of American life. It's a byproduct of prosperity, not to mention the most famous line in the Declaration of Independence.”

“We're not handed situations based on our established likes and dislikes; we get what's available.”

“For me, writing essays is very much about processing ideas and offering them up to the reader so that they are fully cooked.”