Firstly, I'm glad that you don't believe that a woman's place is in the home. A woman's place should only ever be in the home if she WANTS it to be, not because her husband, or society, says that it has to be.

I would like to do a comparison of two women. Both work(ed) long hours. The first one had no post-secondary education, and was married to a man, who, if you asked HER what he did, would tell you he "worked in logistics and transport and went away some times." If you asked HIM what he did, he'd tell you more honestly, that he was a truck driver. She was the dominant one in the relationship and she didn't reach where she did on merit and others said that she was difficult, if not impossible, to work with. She had two kids and was a terrible mother, The second one is a well-educated woman, who is employed professionally. She doesn't have human children, and she is a doctor, who is dedicated to caring for her patients and teaching upcoming medical students.

I think, rather than saying that "No-one ever said that they wished they'd spent more time in the office," what we should be ASKING is, "How much does your career mean to you?" If you are a specialist doctor who obtains a great deal of satisfaction out of caring for your patients, and a day ends with you going home, having a meal and watching some late night TV, having a sleep and getting up the next day to do it again, then you are living your life to the full.