Love & Marriage
Can love really last a lifetime?
Absolutely—but only if you drive away the fairy tale of living happily ever after. Scientists recently found that romantic love involves chemical changes in the brain that last 12 to 18 months. After that, you and your partner are on your own. Relationships require maintenance1.
Cosmic Questions
Why does summer zoom2 by and winter drag on forever?
Because context defines experience. As Einstein once said: “When you are courting a nice girl, an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder3, a second seems like an hour.”
Do animals really have a sixth sense?
Or seventh or eighth! A box jellyfish has 24 eyes, an earthworm's entire body is covered with taste receptors, and your dog's sense of smell is up to 100,000 times greater than yours (some dogs have been known to smell human cancers). It's safe to say that animals experience a much different world than we do.
Why does the line you're in always move the slowest?
Because you're late for your appointment and you curse your luck and envy those speeding by. Conversely4, when you're in the fast line, no stress, you don't even notice the poor people in the slow line. Good luck rarely commands one's attention like bad luck.
By what age should you know what you want to do with your life?
Any moment now. This used to be a question the young asked. Now it's a quandary5 for baby boomers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that younger boomers have abandoned the ideal of picking a job and sticking with it. Between the ages of 18 and 36, these boomers held an average of 9.6 jobs. That's a lot of exploration. The wisdom of elders in all cultures seems to be this: there's nothing to do with a life but live it. As Gandhi pointed out,“Almost anything you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.”
Families & Feuds6
Can a man and a woman ever just be friends?
For a short time perhaps. Making the friendship last requires that you find each other at least vaguely repulsive7. Good luck!
How do you know when to end a friendship?
As soon as you get that sneaking8 suspicion that it never really began.
Why do we turn into our parents when we swore we wouldn't?
Because really, when all is said and done9, we admire them.
Money & OtherHeadaches
Is money the root of all evil?
No. Greed is.
Why is it so hard to say you're wrong?
Because it often involves saying, “I'm sorry,” which is even harder. Throughout history people have found it easier to stop speaking to one another, punch10, slander11, shoot and bomb rather than apologize. Tip: Next time just say, “Whoops,”and see what happens.
爱情与婚姻
爱情真能维持一辈子吗？
绝对可以——但你得先放弃对“自此以后，两人一直过着幸福美满的生活”这种童话的迷信。科学家最近发现浪漫爱情引起大脑中的化学变化，这种变化只维持一年到一年半时间。那以后，全靠你和你的伴侣自我调节。爱情需要细心呵护。
宇宙难题
为什么夏天转眼即逝，而冬天迟迟不去？
处境决定感觉。爱因斯坦曾经说过：“当你向一个美眉献媚时，一小时仿佛就只是一秒。当你坐在滚烫的煤渣上，一秒仿佛就是一小时。”
动物真的有第六感吗？
也许还有第七感或第八感！一只箱形水母有24只眼睛，一条蚯蚓全身覆盖着味觉受体，而狗的嗅觉则比你灵敏10万倍（有的狗甚至能嗅出人体肿瘤）。毫不夸张地说，动物感受的世界远不同于我们所感受的。
为什么你排的那条队总是动得最慢？
你约会要迟到了，就埋怨自己运气不好，嫉妒快速前行的那些人。相反，当你排在快进的队伍中，没有任何压力，是不会在意缓慢移动队伍中的那些可怜虫的。好运很少像坏运那样引人注意。
在多大年纪，你才懂得如何对待生活？
随时随地。年轻人常常问这个问题。这个问题现在困扰着生育高峰期出生的年轻人。劳工统计局报告称：高峰期出生的年轻人已经抛弃了寻找一份工作，并且从一而终的理想。18至36岁之间的年轻人平均从事过9.6个工作。这可得花不少力气寻找。在不同文化背景下，老一辈的哲理似乎是：我们对生活无能为力，惟有好好过日子。甘地就曾说过：“你所做的一切都可能毫无意义，但是重要的是你做了。”
家庭与矛盾
男人和女人可以只做朋友吗？
或许短时间内可以。要想维持男女之间的友谊，你们至少得发现双方有点相互讨厌。祝你好运！
你怎么知道何时该终结一段友谊？
只要你隐约猜疑这段友谊根本就没开始过。
我们发誓不学父母的样子，为何又会变成他们那样呢？
因为事实上，说到底我们还是佩服他们。
金钱与其他难题
金钱是万恶之源吗？
否。贪婪才是。
为什么说声错了就这么难？
因为说自己错了，常常还要说“对不起”，那更难说出口。纵观历史长河，人们发现道歉比彼此不讲话、相互攻击、诽谤、射击甚至相互轰炸都难。提示：下次就说：“唉哟（真糟！）”，看看会怎样。
1. maintenance n. 维持
2. zoom v. 急速离去
3. cinder n. 煤渣
4. conversely adv. 相反地
5. quandary n. 困境，窘境
6. feud n. （家庭）不和；争执
7. repulsive adj. 排斥的，令人讨厌的
8. sneaking adj. 暗中的
9. when all is said and done 归根结底，说到底
10. punch v. 拳击，攻击
11. slander v. 诽谤