Carly Simon

One of the things about creativity is you can be in denial about these things. When I found out I had cancer, there were four hours in which I was pounding my head on the marble kitchen top saying, “I can’t believe it, I can’t believe it.” But then I felt as if this little army in uniform was flooding me. They had come to help me fight it. I felt really strong about it after that. It was one of the strongest periods of my life.

When I was a little girl, I so wanted to be sociable, but I was scared that I wasn’t going to be able to speak a sentence because I had such a bad stammer.

Music brought me closer to the idea of God.

As a child I used to read Gone with the Wind over and over again. I wanted to be Scarlett O’Hara. I never wanted to believe that it was possible that there could be infidelity. I never wanted to be believe that it was even possible for a man to look another way, even for a moment. My bubble of monogamy was pierced in a harsh way.

You usually can’t tell what’s inspiring until you look back on it.

Seeing things that are bothering you written down takes away their power. It gives you a perspective. Helps you contain them.

The only other person who has a clue about what this is, the good, the bad, is your partner.

Why do so many marriages fail? Because nobody gets taught how to be married. We’re not taught how to pick a mate, or why to pick a mate; we don’t know how to manage our emotions once we’re in a marriage; we don’t know how to resolve marital conflict. Married people have never been taught why they or their spouses feel the way they do and act the way they do. Nobody has ever taught us the fundamentals.

The most wonderful of all things in life, I believe, is the discovery of another human being with whom one’s relationship has a glowing depth, beauty, and joy as the years increase. This inner progressiveness of love between two human beings is a most marvelous thing, it cannot be found by looking for it or by passionately wishing for it. It is a sort of Divine accident.

There has never been a merging of two lives where significant problems of daily living did not occur. One way or another, your relationship is going to be affected. The only question is how. There’s a big difference between knowing and doing. It’s not what happens between partners that determines the outcome of a relationship, it’s how they handle what happens. If all you deal with in your relationship is problems, then you will have a problem relationship. If you want your pound of flesh with full acknowledgement that you’re right, your future will be dim.

Is it really possible to tell someone else what one feels?

It’s very easy for me to thank everyone for the incredible contribution they’ve made to my life.

Breaking up is a natural evolution when you try to figure out what you want in life. If you’re with an individual who isn’t moving in the same direction and at the same rate that you are, it ain’t going to work.

I’m a little bit afraid to give my heart away right now. It’s very scary. I’m open to it, but I just want to make sure that I’m taking my time.

No one is your friend who demands your silence or denies your right to grow.

I’m currently single, so I want to have fun! As for what guys need to do to date out of their league, it’s all about the swagger. If you have confidence, you can get pretty much any girl.

From the first time I saw a picture of him, James Taylor was it — the ultimate Orpheus of all my fantasies.

Young love is a flame; very pretty, often very hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. The love of the older and disciplined heart is as coals, deep burning, unquenchable.

Lasting love and forgiveness are two sides of the same page.

Take it from a guy: If you’re in love with somebody, you will swim the stream, you will climb the mountain, you will slay the dragon. You’re going to get to her somehow, some way.

I have a rule, and that is to never look at somebody’s face while we’re having sex; because, number one, what if I know the guy?