Nothing is perfect. Life is messy. Relationships are complex. Outcomes are uncertain. People are irrational.

Real magic in relationships means an absence of judgment of others.

I was really bright as a kid and tested well and it was clear that I was going to get scholarships to any schools I wanted. My dad always said I could be an engineer at that time it was the elite of society: steady job working in science which was then the answer to every problem we had. It was kind of a mandate. Kind of a dream he had for me.

My dad's gay experiences really had a very positive influence on me and my straight relationships - how to better accept all the weirdness and ambiguity and ups and downs and paradoxes. I knew from the beginning I was writing about love.

I had lost relationships with my dad my brother and sister and I was just like you know what this is definitely the time to just get it together and so that's what I did.

Traits like humility courage and empathy are easily overlooked - but it's immensely important to find them in your closest relationships.

You don't develop courage by being happy in your relationships everyday. You develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity.

I really love rap music. I grew up in the '80s and '90s with Public Enemy N.W.A. LL Cool J - I'm a hip-hop encyclopedia. But I got kind of frustrated with the chauvinistic side of rap music the one that makes it hard to write songs about love and relationships.

I haven't ever really relied on relationships with guys. They come around and it's cool but it's never been a big thing. I guess I've just been really distracted by work.

These sites have torn down the geographical divide that once prevented long distance social relationships from forming allowing instant communication and connections to take place and a virtual second life to take hold for its users.

Making movies is not rocket science. It's about relationships and communication and strangers coming together to see if they can get along harmoniously productively and creatively. That's a challenge. When it works it's fantastic and will lift you up. When it doesn't work it's almost just as fascinating.

The major advances in speed of communication and ability to interact took place more than a century ago. The shift from sailing ships to telegraph was far more radical than that from telephone to email!

Trust is the glue of life. It's the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It's the foundational principle that holds all relationships.

It sounds so trite but in relationships you have to communicate.

As far as friendships go things change even without the fame. People start moving on. I have a few friends that are married and are starting to have kids and I'm like 'Oh my goodness gracious - that's so insane.' I also have friends who are just doing their own thing which is cool.

The creative destruction that social media is currently unleashing will change more than technology or the leader board of the Fortune 100. It is driving a qualitative shift in the nature of relationships between brands and their customers.

I just think that sometimes we hang onto people or relationships long after they've ceased to be of any use to either of you. I'm always meeting new people and my list of friends seems to change quite a bit.

John D. Rockefeller wanted to dominate oil but Microsoft wants it all you name it: cable media banking car dealerships.

I learned from Mr. Wrigley early in my career that loyalty wins and it creates friendships. I saw it work for him in his business.

You have to stick out the toughness of the business and form relationships with the people in it.

Politics are about preserving relationships at the end of the day and it has nothing to do with the greater good for humanity. It's just all about business.

Most of my relationships were people in the business. Having said that me and Tim don't really talk that much about work. He comes into my bit of the house every so often to vent but we don't really have very high cultured conversations.

The sad truth is that without complex business partnerships between African elites and European traders and commercial agents the slave trade to the New World would have been impossible at least on the scale it occurred.

I'm someone who loves to enjoy life and tries to focus on real things and real friendships. That's why I live very simply. I'm a jeans and T-shirt kind of girl. I don't spend much time fixing myself up or trying to look cool. I live like a normal person and even though I'm in a very high-profile business I really don't let it affect the way I live.