Madeleine M. Kunin
Most babies know how to win us over. We cannot help but smile at them and watch them smile back.Collection: Smile
When all the world appears to be in a tumult, and nature itself is feeling the assault of climate change, the seasons retain their essential rhythm. Yes, fall gives us a premonition of winter, but then, winter, will be forced to relent, once again, to the new beginnings of soft greens, longer light, and the sweet air of spring.Collection: Environmental
To make flexibility work, it is not only necessary to change our attitude about who is a good worker and who is not, but we have to train managers at all levels to recognize the difference between the number of hours worked and the quality of work produced.Collection: Attitude
I'm not going to be bullied or pushed around by the group of the day. You've got to have political courage. You've got to have your own inner beliefs.Collection: Courage
Women in leadership cannot cry without raising a storm of commentary.Collection: Leadership
Early childhood education begins early, even before birth.Collection: Education
There are no more excuses for leaving women out of the inner circles of power. Qualified women are everywhere. Women are ready for leadership; they just need to be identified and asked.Collection: Leadership
It's time to recognize what compromise means: no side wins or loses all.
We assume in our daily lives that the world is both safe and sane. Otherwise, we could not carry on.
The political environment we create matters because a disturbed person cannot always tell the difference between explosive rhetoric and explosive actions.
Our right to disagree is precious but fragile. The best way to protect and preserve it is to let the other side speak without demonizing them or destroying their right to be heard. Such civil exchanges are the heart beat of democracy - essential to keeping it alive.
When women and men can shed an equal quantity of tears in public, that's when we'll have equal power.
The Republican agenda is, and always has been, to repeal Roe v. Wade, and at the very least, erode it to the greatest extent possible.
It's time for women to wake up, to use the power of the vote, to honor the suffragists who chained themselves to the White House fence so that women could vote.
Susan B. Anthony must be turning in her grave if she knew that millions of women who have the right to vote are not exercising it. Why? Because they haven't got the interest or the time, or they have just given up hope.
Remember what Susan B. Anthony said? 'Failure is impossible.' Failure is possible if women don't vote.
To equate a corporation with a person is a travesty of justice.
When people have lost their jobs or are afraid of losing their jobs in the future, they lash out. They want others to know about their fears, their pain.
Are there really good wars and bad wars? We thought so during World War II, and in retrospect, we were right. But in Vietnam, and Iraq we were wrong.
If months were marked by colors, November in New England would be colored gray.
Why can't the world be like a summer day, when I thought that health care would be an ethical decision and wars existed only to be stopped?
The very qualities that make it harder for women to get elected - not being part of the old boy's network - gives them the advantage of having fresh, and yes, clean faces.
The death of a famous person is different from the death of a loved one, whether it is Michael Jackson, Frank McCourt, or Walter Cronkite. We didn't know any of them personally, and yet, we experience a sense of loss.
Poor privileged white men. Their stranglehold on power is slowly being loosened.
Life experience is not something to be denied, but to be celebrated.
Hugs are helpful, especially when women step out into a mostly male political world. Emotional support, at critical moments, enables women to stay in the race.
What works for a man, still does not work for a woman - both in terms of how they see themselves and how we see them.
Many women do not want to venture out into the 'opinion world' until they are certain of themselves, the facts, and that they are right. They are afraid of being shot down. The result is often silence.
To be political means to speak out, to risk being called 'catty', or worse. I don't hear men worrying about whether they may be right or not. They enjoy the fight, whether it is with words or fists. Women still tend to shy away from controversy, to be uncomfortable with competition.
A skilled worker, regardless of the job description, remains a treasure.
We see the world through the lens of all our experiences; that is a fundamental part of the human condition.
Working moms, and increasingly working dads, don't want a government handout, but they do need a hand up.
We're all basically made of the same stuff: generosity and selfishness, goodness and greed.
The first thousand days of a baby's life are likely to determine the rest of her life - whether she grows up to be healthy or not, both physically and emotionally.
Those who speak up, those who use their connections, are more likely to succeed than those who sit and wait.
Contradictory as it seems, malnutrition is a key contributor to obesity.
Statistics do not convey emotion. They shock us for a minute or two, and then we click again.
When a man interrupts a woman in mid-sentence, it reveals much about him. First, it shows he hasn't been listening to what she is saying, and secondly, it indicates that he doesn't want to listen to what she will say. Her views are not important.
Babies are smart. They can tell the difference between a responsive face and a blank face, wiped clean of emotion.
The focus of Congress is on keeping the nation secure - and it doesn't see that food security is an essential part of that responsibility. Instead of putting more food on the tables of America, they are busy finding ways to take it away.
We continue to blame the poor for their own condition. They are lazy. We do not want to know that the poorest of the poor are toddlers under three years of age.
A small pay discrepancy between men's and women's salaries for the same job may seem inconsequential. But over the years, salary discrimination adds up to a significantly smaller pension.
Many businesses oppose any government mandates, even if they are already following them.
The health benefits of paid sick days policies are obvious. They prevent the spread of disease. But the impact is wider. If a working mom or dad loses a job because of sickness, the family may slip into poverty.
Simply put, when women do well, everybody does better.
A source of conflict for women everywhere is the pull between reproduction and production. Women worldwide have difficulty in balancing their dual roles as caregivers and providers.
We must speed up the time table for fathers, brothers and sons to provide their mothers, daughters and sisters with the same opportunities that they give themselves.
One reason the United States is one of three countries in the world that do not have any form of paid maternity leave is that many American business leaders, like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, oppose any family-friendly policies. They scare people into thinking maternity leave will be a job killer.
Fair treatment in the work force is no longer exclusively a labor issue, nor is it a women's issue - it is a fundamental economic issue.
Every time a woman leaves the workforce because she can't find or afford childcare, or she can't work out a flexible arrangement with her boss, or she has no paid maternity leave, her family's income falls down a notch. Simultaneously, national productivity numbers decline.