Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus

Author: Dr. John Gray
Genre: Self-Help, Psychology

This masterpiece on men/women relationships has sold more than 7 million copies, and was the highest ranking non-fiction across the whole of 1990’s. In essence, the book says that men and women are different and speak a different subtle language, almost as if they have come from different planets. And hence, they end up fighting, because “we mistakenly assume that if our partners love us, they will react… the way we react”. But true love will only blossom if we learn to accept and respect our differences.

Some gems in the book (quoted verbatim):

·A man’s sense of self is defined through his achievements; a woman’s through her feelings. Men are motivated when they feel needed, women when they feel cherished.

·Men would do one big thing and then think their contribution to the relationship is done. But women want many small daily acts of kindness and love.

·To feel better, men want to be left alone and solve their problems, but their partner wants to talk and ‘help’ (which can be very irritating for the man!). Even with all his love, a man needs to occasionally pull away before he comes closer. He needs intimacy but also autonomy. It puts too much pressure on him to make him the only source of love and support.