Home life as we understand it is no more natural to us than a cage to a cockatoo.
—George Bernard Shaw, 1908
Marriage is like life in this – that it is a field of battle, and not a bed of roses.
—Robert Louis Stevenson, 1881
All married couples should learn the art of battle as they should learn the art of making
love.
—Ann Landers, 1968
My toughest fight was with my first wife.
—Muhammad Ali, 2009
My parents only had one argument in forty-five years. It lasted forty-three years.
—Cathy Ladman
6
***
The highest task for a bond between two people: that each protects the solitude of the other.
—Rainer Maria Rilke, 1904
God created man and, finding him not sufficiently alone, gave him a companion to make
him feel his solitude more keenly.
—Paul Valéry, 1943
Men have a much better time of [marriage] than women. For one thing, they marry later.
For another thing, they die earlier.
—H. L. Mencken, 1949
***
A married man with a family will do anything for money.
—Charles de Talleyrand
7
A married man is half a man.
—Norman Douglas, 1917
Wife and children, believe me, is a big evil,
Of which everything foul in our lives originates.
8
—Alexander Pushkin, 1822
God gave women intuition and femininity. Used properly, the combination easily jumbles
the brain of any man I’ve ever met.
—Farrah Fawcett, 2000
6
As quoted, without a date, in many collections, starting not later than 1990.
7
As quoted, without a date, in several collections, starting not later than 1977.
8
In Russian this is a rhymed, metered verse, for which I could not find a fair poetic translation to
English.
On Love, Family, and Children
125
—George Bernard Shaw, 1908
Marriage is like life in this – that it is a field of battle, and not a bed of roses.
—Robert Louis Stevenson, 1881
All married couples should learn the art of battle as they should learn the art of making
love.
—Ann Landers, 1968
My toughest fight was with my first wife.
—Muhammad Ali, 2009
My parents only had one argument in forty-five years. It lasted forty-three years.
—Cathy Ladman
6
***
The highest task for a bond between two people: that each protects the solitude of the other.
—Rainer Maria Rilke, 1904
God created man and, finding him not sufficiently alone, gave him a companion to make
him feel his solitude more keenly.
—Paul Valéry, 1943
Men have a much better time of [marriage] than women. For one thing, they marry later.
For another thing, they die earlier.
—H. L. Mencken, 1949
***
A married man with a family will do anything for money.
—Charles de Talleyrand
7
A married man is half a man.
—Norman Douglas, 1917
Wife and children, believe me, is a big evil,
Of which everything foul in our lives originates.
8
—Alexander Pushkin, 1822
God gave women intuition and femininity. Used properly, the combination easily jumbles
the brain of any man I’ve ever met.
—Farrah Fawcett, 2000
6
As quoted, without a date, in many collections, starting not later than 1990.
7
As quoted, without a date, in several collections, starting not later than 1977.
8
In Russian this is a rhymed, metered verse, for which I could not find a fair poetic translation to
English.
On Love, Family, and Children
125