In the biotech revolution, it is the human body, not iron or steel or plastic, that's at the source. Are the biocapitalists going to be allowed to dig without consent into our genetic codes, then market them?
– Ellen Goodman
Most people do not consider dawn to be an attractive experience - unless they are still up.
– Ellen Goodman
Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work, driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for, in order to get to a job that you need so you can pay for the clothes, car and the house that you leave empty all day in order to afford to live in it.
– Ellen Goodman
The things we hate about ourselves aren't more real than things we like about ourselves.
– Ellen Goodman
Traditions are the guideposts driven deep in our subconscious minds. The most powerful ones are those we can't even describe, aren't even aware of.
– Ellen Goodman
Values are not trendy items that are casually traded in.
– Ellen Goodman
We criticize mothers for closeness. We criticize fathers for distance. How many of us have expected less from our fathers and appreciated what they gave us more? How many of us always let them off the hook?
– Ellen Goodman
When we describe what the other person is really like, I suppose we often picture what we want. We look through the prism of our need.
– Ellen Goodman
All in all, I am not surprised that the people who want to unravel the social contract start with young adults. Those who are urged to feel afraid, very afraid, have both the greatest sense of independence and the most finely honed skepticism about government.
– Ellen Goodman
I have never been especially impressed by the heroics of people who are convinced they are about to change the world. I am more awed by those who struggle to make one small difference after another.
– Ellen Goodman
In journalism, there has always been a tension between getting it first and getting it right.
– Ellen Goodman
The central struggle of parenthood is to let our hopes for our children outweigh our fears.
– Ellen Goodman
You can teach someone who cares to write columns, but you can’t teach someone who writes columns to care.
– Ellen Goodman
There's a trick to the Graceful Exit. It begins with the vision to recognize when a job, a life stage, a relationship is over - and to let go. It means leaving what's over without denying its value.