Almost no one is foolish enough to imagine that he automatically deserves great success in any field of activity; yet almost everyone believes that he automatically deserves success in marriage.
Interpretation
Success in marriage is often expected without effort, unlike other pursuits which require hard work.
This quote highlights the paradox in societal expectations regarding success in different aspects of life. While people generally recognize that achieving great success in their careers or hobbies requires dedication and perseverance, many tend to assume that a successful marriage should come effortlessly, revealing a gap in understanding the complexities and work involved in sustaining a healthy and fulfilling relationship.
In practice
During a wedding speech, I could refer to this quote to emphasize the importance of continual effort in marriage.
A person is either himself or not himself; is either rooted in his existence or is a fabrication; has either found his humanhood or is still playing with masks and roles and status symbols. And nobody is more aware of this difference (although unconsciously) than a child. Only an authentic person can evoke a good response in the core of the other person; only person is resonant to person.
We evaluate others with a Godlike justice, but we want them to evaluate us with a Godlike compassion.
The commonest fallacy among women is that simply having children makes them a mother - which is as absurd as believing that having a piano makes one a musician.
Man's unique agony as a species consists in his perpetual conflict between the desire to stand out and the need to blend in.
"Terrorism" is what we call the violence of the weak, and we condemn it; "war" is what we call the violence of the strong, and we glorify it.
At it's highest level, the purpose of teaching is not to teach—it is to inspire the desire for learning. Once a student's mind is set on fire, it will find a way to provide its own fuel.
The wedding is the chief ceremony of the middle-class mythology, and it functions as the official entrée of the spouses to their middle-class status. This is the real meaning of saving up to get married. The young couple struggles to set up an image of comfortable life which they will be forced to live up to in the years that follow.
Loyalty in time of need is possibly one of the noblest of victories a courtier can win over himself.
Bless you, my darling, and remember you are always in the heart - oh tucked so close there is no chance of escape - of your sister.
Cruelty is, in theory, a perfectly adequate ground for divorce, but it may be interpreted so as to become absurd.
Cute's good. But cute only lasts for so long, and then it's, 'Who are you as a person?' Look at the heart. Look at the soul. Look at how the guy treats his mother and what he says about women. How he acts with children he doesn't know. And, more important, how does he treat you?
Those who say they will forgive but can't forget, simply bury the hatchet but leave the handle out for immediate use.
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