A simple life is not seeing how little we can get by with—that’s poverty—but how efficiently we can put first things first. . . . When you’re clear about your purpose and your priorities, you can painlessly discard whatever does not support these, whether it’s clutter in your cabinets or commitments on your calendar. (148)

— Victoria Moran

As I see it, a green salad is an open invitation to carrots, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, and the sprouts that grow in jars on my kitchen counter.

— Victoria Moran

At forty-three, I bought my first house. I’d wanted one like crazy. A house meant family, a happy childhood for my little girl and for the little girl self inside me. . . . I was soon overwhelmed by the upkeep and overcome by the yard work. . . . In the bright light of closing, it was obvious: it was never a house I wanted; it was what a house symbolized to me. (254)

— Victoria Moran

At this moment, there is plenty of time. At this moment, you are precisely as you should be. At this moment, there is infinite possibility. (17)

— Victoria Moran

A twenty-three-year-long study in Ohio determined that people who saw growing older as something positive lived a whopping seven and a half years longer than those who didn’t. (356)

— Victoria Moran

Beauty at 70 years old isn't the same as beauty at 20 years old, but it is stunning nonetheless.

— Victoria Moran

Because I was more often happy for other people, I got to spend more time being happy. And as I saw more light in everybody else, I seemed to have more myself. (250)

— Victoria Moran

Did your mom ever tell you, ‘If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything’? She was right–and talking nicely also applies when you’re talking to yourself, even inside your head. (339)

— Victoria Moran

Every year when I put away my winter clothes and get out my summer clothes, they fit. And I haven't been on a diet since the Reagan administration.

— Victoria Moran

[G]rowing into your future with health and grace and beauty doesn’t have to take all your time. It rather requires a dedication to caring for yourself as if you were rare and precious, which you are, and regarding all life around you as equally so, which it is. (267-268)

— Victoria Moran