Not reassuring when weathermen say 'Today will be terrible but don't worry it won't be as terrible as tomorrow or Friday.
A vague disclaimer is nobody's friend
One trouble with a kind of falsely therapeutic and always reassuring attitude that it is easy to fall into with old people, is the tendency to be satisfied with too little.
That's what the cat said to the canary when he swallowed him - 'You'll be all right.'
Assumption Theory: The only safe assumption in life is that the person who assures you that everything is all right is all wrong.
I can do this, I lied to myself feebly. No one was going to bite me.
Whenever someone says the words 'Our friendship is more important than this,' watch out, because it almost never is.
When I first started coaching, one of the worst things that I think I heard was 'It will be O.K.' I would wonder, 'How the hell is it going to be O.K.?' The worst word in the English language is 'hope.'
You're not cross with me, though?" he said. She pulled her hand away and answered, "No, no, I'm never cross with anyone.
If I have any complaints about my youth... one is that many well-meaning adults lied to me. Not spiteful lies with malicious intent but lies designed to prevent emotional and psychological pain - lies told by the people who cared about me most: my parents, teachers, relatives.
Please relax," said the voice pleasantly, like a stewardess in an airliner with only one wing and two engines one of which is on fire, "you are perfectly safe.
Someone will always tell you what you want to hear.
The more someone assures you that everything is okay, the more you can be assured that it's not.
If someone asks you if you're all right, and you say you are, that's usually a lie.
