QuoteProject
Things don't change in a marriage until the spouse who is taking responsibility for a problem that is not hers decides to say or do something about it.
Henry Cloud
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Change in a marriage relies on the willingness of one partner to take action regarding issues that affect the relationship.

This quote highlights the importance of individual responsibility within a marriage. It suggests that often, one partner may bear the weight of a problem that affects both, and real change can only occur when that partner takes proactive steps towards addressing the issue, rather than waiting for the other to change or take responsibility. It underscores the dynamic nature of relationships and the need for active participation from both parties to foster a healthy marital environment.

Themes

MarriageResponsibilityChangeRelationshipPartnership

In practice

Example use cases

This quote could be used in a marriage counseling session to encourage open communication.

More from Henry Cloud

Good pain is pain in the service of a purpose. Bad pain is pain endured because we are resisting a needed growth step.
Henry CloudRead
A good test of a relationship is how a person responds to the word 'no.' Love respects 'no,' control does not.
Henry CloudRead
When a child shuts down his painful emotional side, he also loses the ability to express his joyous side. Emotions are a whole. With anger comes the ability to express delight; with sadness comes the ability to express lightheartedness. This is the breadth of emotion that allows an adult to experience intimacy with a spouse, with God, and with his children
Henry CloudRead
One of the first signs that you’re beginning to develop boundaries is a sense of resentment, frustration, or anger at the subtle and not-so-subtle violations in your life. Just as radar signals the approach of a foreign missile, your anger can alert you to boundary violations in your life.
Henry CloudRead
The mature person meets the demands of life, while the immature person demands that life meet her demands.
Henry CloudRead
The twin sister to autonomy and freedom is responsibility and accountability. You cannot have one with out the other. If someone is given an area of responsibility, not only must they be set free to do it, they must also be held accountable for what they do. Accountability clarifies freedom. In the teams and companies where you see boundary confusion, power struggles, control, over-reaching of one's line of responsibility, you will also see lapses in accountability as well.
Henry CloudRead

Similar quotes

Australia turns out to be a sensational place, albeit one of the most comfortably racist places I've ever been in. They've really settled into their intolerance like an old resentful slipper.
John OliverRead
Phone calls like ours only happen when you've spent several years hurting and being hurt, until every work you utter or hear becomes coded and loaded, as complicated and full of subtext as a bleak and brilliant play.
Nick HornbyRead
The breakdown of the black community, in order to maintain slavery, began with the breakdown of the black family. Men and women were not legally allowed to get married because you couldn't have that kind of love. It might get in the way of the economics of slavery. Your children could be taken from you and literally sold down the river.
Kerry WashingtonRead
My parents had this incredibly vital relationship with an audience, like muscle with blood. This was the main competition I had for my parents' attention: an audience.
Carrie FisherRead
And this would normalize the existence of the Israeli and the Jew: a majority of Jews in the Land of Israel and a majority of Israelis among the Jewish People.
Shimon PeresRead
I don't pay attention to a lot of people - I pay attention to a select few, and that's worked out well for me.
Maya MooreRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.