Weather is a literary specialty, and no untrained hand can turn out a good article on it
A marriage...makes of two fractional lives a whole; it gives to two purposeless lives a work, and doubles the strength of each to perform it; it gives to two questioning natures a reason for living, and something to live for; it will give a new gladness to the sunshine, a new fragrance to the flowers, a new beauty to the earth, and a new mystery to life.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Marriage unites individuals, enhancing their lives and providing purpose.
In this quote, Mark Twain beautifully articulates the transformative power of marriage. He suggests that when two individuals come together in a committed partnership, they create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts, giving meaning, strength, and joy to their lives. This union not only provides a shared purpose but also enriches their experiences of the world, making everything from sunshine to flowers more beautiful and meaningful. Essentially, marriage is portrayed as a journey that elevates life itself.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a wedding speech to highlight the significance of partnership.
More from Mark Twain
All quotes →The easy part of being an artist is figuring out the message that everyone else is ready to hear. The hard part is waiting for the proper lull to make the announcement.
You can't reason with your heart; it has its own laws, and thumps about things which the intellect scorns.
To be good is noble; but to show others how to be good is nobler and no trouble.
Name the greatest of all inventors. Accident.
In Paris they just simply opened their eyes and stared when we spoke to them in French! We never did succeed in making those idiots understand their own language.
Similar quotes
She and I just don't see eye to eye together. She's a square. She keeps telling me that I'm too interested in chess, that I should get friends outside of chess, you can't make a living from chess, that I should finish high school and all that nonsense. She keeps in my hair and I don't like people in my hair, you know, so I had to get rid of her.
Introverted feeling types have a wealth of warmth and enthusiasm, but they may not show it until they know someone well. They wear their warm side inside, like a fur-lined coat.
Just because something is unspoken doesn't mean that it disappears.
Yesterday my daughter said to me, 'My marriage is falling apart.' And now all she can do is watch it falling.
People don't always express their inner thoughts to one another; a conversation may be quite trivial, but often the eyes will reveal what a person really thinks or feels.
I felt like we had stories about family loyalty; I didn't feel like we had stories about what to do when you felt that loyalty to your family was in conflict with loyalty to yourself.