Well you've asked a very good, but very complicated question flyinshark. To me honesty is the best policy, but words can be misconstrued so you have to be careful what you say to women especially due to the fact that they operate on their feelings more than their thoughts. You also cannot lose ground with them by sharing too many of your feelings with them or they will lose respect for you percieving it as feminine behavior or ingenuine.
All I can say is that my response to the question above would go something like: "Every relationship is unique, that would be like comparing apples to oranges."