They are all alike you know. They hold their tongues for years and you think you're safe, but when the opportunity comes they remember everything.
Edith WhartonRead
As he paid the hansom and followed his wife's long train into the house he took refuge in the comforting platitude that the first six months were always the most difficult in marriage. 'After that I suppose we shall have pretty nearly finished rubbing off each other’s angles,' he reflected; but the worst of it was that May's pressure was already bearing on the very angles whose sharpness he most wanted to keep
Interpretation
What this quote means
Marriage often begins with challenges that couples must navigate together.
This quote reflects the initial struggles that couples face during the early stages of marriage. It suggests that the first six months can be particularly difficult as partners learn to understand and adapt to each other's differences. The mention of 'rubbing off each other’s angles' symbolizes the compromises and adjustments needed in a relationship, highlighting the tension between personal identity and marital harmony.
Themes
MarriageRelationshipsChallengesAdjustmentsCommitment
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a wedding speech to emphasize the journey of marriage.
More from Edith Wharton
All quotes →They seemed to come suddenly upon happiness as if they had surprised a butterfly in the winter woods
Edith WhartonRead
Set wide the window. Let me drink the day.
Edith WhartonRead
And I wonder, among all the tangles of this mortal coil, which one contains tighter knots to undo, & consequently suggests more tugging, & pain, & diversified elements of misery, than the marriage tie.
Edith WhartonRead
There are two ways to spread happiness; either be the light who shines it or be the mirror who reflects it.
Edith WhartonRead
The real loneliness is living among all these kind people who only ask one to pretend!
Edith WhartonRead
Similar quotes
A lot of women seem to think the way to ingratiate themselves is to put down other women or backstab. That's the quickest way to be eliminated from my life - try that with me, and you're out.
Gabrielle UnionRead
It’s like when you’re excited about a girl and you see a couple holding hands, and you feel so happy for them. And other times you see the same couple, and they make you so mad. And all you want is to feel happy for them because you know that if you do, then it means you’re happy, too.
Stephen ChboskyRead
When you make mistakes, when you're wrong, you should admit you're wrong and ask people to forgive you.
John LewisRead
We need to say that women have sex, have abortions, are at peace with the decision, and move on with their lives. We need to say that is their right, and, moreover, it's good for everyone that they have this right: The whole society benefits when motherhood is voluntary.
Katha PollittRead
Relationships, not achievements or the acquisition of things, are what matters most in life.
Rick WarrenRead
Every tragedy of the human experience can be attributed to one human decision - the decision to withdraw from each other.
Neale Donald WalschRead