• Gradually Gandhi began to see that she (his wife, Kasturbai) was practicing every day what he himself had been admiring as a theoretical ideal. He took up her example, and each became the other's teacher as Gandhi learned Kasturbai's patience and inspired her with his own fiery enthusiasm in return. It was a long arduous, exacting discipline, which he used to say required the patience of a man trying to empty the sea with a cup. But every time they overcame a barrier between them, they found they were not only able to love each other more, they had more love and patience for everyone else as well. By the time Gandhi had learned to bring this
  love to bear even on his enemies, Kasturbai too was in prison, gathering other women to her leadership.
  Eknath Easwaran (1910-1999) Indian spiritual teacher of Passage Meditation, translator, interpreter of spiritual literature, author, Gandhi the Man. How one man changed himself to change the world, Nilgiri Press, 4th edition 11. April 2011

• In a true marriage you are neither the man nor the woman, but the love between the two.
  Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj (1897-1981) Indian Hindu sage
  of the advaita vedānta tradition, I Am That. Talks with Sri Nisargadatta, Acorn Press, chapter 66, 1973, June 1990

• Seldom, or perhaps never, does a marriage develop into an individual relationship smoothly and without crises; there is no coming to consciousness without pain. Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) Swiss psychiatrist, psycho-
  analyst, founder of a new school of depth psychology, author, Contribution to Analytical Psychology, S. 193, 1928, Hespe-
  rides Press, 1. November 2008

• A marriage is more likely to succeed if the woman follows her own star and remains conscious of her wholeness than if she constantly concerns herself with her hus-
  band's star and his wholeness. Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) Swiss psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, founder of a new school of
  depth psychology, author, Conversations with Carl Jung, presented by host Richard I. Evans, US American professor of psychology, University of Houston, transcript, S. 51, August 1957

• God is not in me, and God is not in you, but God is what is between us.
  When two people relate to each other authentically and humanly, God is the electricity that surges between them. Martin Buber (1878-1965) Austrian-born Jewish religious researcher and philosopher, cited in: Moses L. Pava, Jewish Ethics as Dialogue. Using Spiritual Language to Re-Imagine a Better World, S. 149, Palgrave Macmillan, 2009

• Everyone recognizes to some extent the type that each is drawn to and they intui-
  tively feel each other’s polarity, mentally and physically. Such types naturally gra-
  vitate to and recognize each other, so that out of any hundred people, ninety-nine might have no mental or sex appeal for each other – while the hundredth would. All humans should seek the type which corresponds to their own electric wave length. When types so find each other, they will be as perfectly balanced as sodium and chlorine, and the union should be enduring.
  It is a common saying that people should marry their opposites. Nothing could be more contrary to universal law than this statement. Everywhere in Nature, like attracts like. This is fundamental. Opposites repel each other. Opposites
  in temperament and physical patterns invite discord, infidelity and mutual degradation. Matrimonial mismating un-
  balances the blood stream just as certainly as promiscuous mismating unbalances it.
  Walter Russell (1871-1963) US American polymath, natural philosopher, mystic, architect, painter, sculptor, builder, author (unified theory in physics and cosmogony), Message of the Divine Iliad Vol. 2, S. 167, University of Science and Philosophy, June 1971

• Every pair of opposites is divided by an equilibrium which is a balance between the two, but that balance is nit either of the two. Sodium-chloride is an equilibrium which voids both sodium and chlorine, for neither is present in it. Likewise, water is the equator which voids hydrogen and oxygen.
  All opposites of all kinds extend from a mutual equator which is their common unity, and to that equator they must eventually return in order to repeat. Every pair must become one in order to again become two. Men and women do
  not escape this two-way reciprocative law. Each becomes what the other is. Both are always compromising each other's unbalance. If the two unbalances are equal and opposite, each type will survive and grow mentally, spiritual-
  ly and physically. If the two unbalanced mates are unequal in their opposition, the penalty is degeneration – men-
  tally, spiritually and physically. The quality of one mate is a compromise with the quality of the other. The pattern
  resulting from this spiritual, mental and moral development is compromised for good or bad by every contact bet-
  ween them – no matter how slight. This is true even outside the sex union.
  Walter Russell (1871-1963) US American polymath, natural philosopher, mystic, architect, painter, sculptor, builder, author (unified theory in physics and cosmogony), Message of the Divine Iliad Vol. 2, S. 168-169, University of Science and Philosophy, June 1971

• Question: Is it possible for people of different calibrations to be married peacefully?
  Answer: Yes. There is a higher purpose to every relationship. What appears on the outside as a mismatch may be
  just exactly what the two people need. […] As the Course says, "Everyone is our teacher." When that teaching has reached its conclusion the relationship may disappear Why? Because it has served its purpose and is no longer sui-
  table for that state of spiritual evolution of one or the other or both parties. A lot of relationships come together as an
  agreement, which people have forgotten about. […]
  People get involved with each other but very rarely aligned. What makes relationship work is not involvement. Involvement is a dime a dozen […] which is a solar plexus kind of possessive exclusivity. To make relationship work
  is to be aligned with the good and the welfare and the happiness of the other person. If both people are aligned
  with the relationship then it can withstand almost anything. So long as you are aligned with each other it will
  survive any travail. If you're merely involved with each other you can get divorced over chocolate versus vanilla.
  Q&A audio interview with ⚡ Dr. David R. Hawkins, part 3 of 3, 29:58 minutes duration, presented by the dissolved US American
  ACIM web radio station of the dissolved Miracles Center, Sedona, Arizona, host H. David Fishman, 30 minutes of 90 minutes, last
  question at the very end, aired 6. February 2005

• The sexual and cultural revolutions of the 1960s have pushed the bearing and rearing of children from the core of marriage's social meaning. Ask twentysome-
  things and thirtysomethings what they hope for from marriage. They will, of course, tell you that they want love and that they definitely want companionship – in-
  deed, that they expect their spouse to be their best friend. And obviously they want to share the pleasures of sex. Then ask them about children. Many will pause and say well, yes, certainly, they are
  thinking about children, and eventually, somewhere down the line, they expect to have one or two. But
  • children, once at the center of marriage, have now become negotiable, and
  • what used to be negotiable – love, companionship, sex – has moved to the center.

Phil and Marlene, a couple from United States of America

• Faithful and committed relationships offer a door into the mystery of spiritual life in which we discover this; the more we give of self, the richer we become in soul; the more we go beyond ourselves in love, the more we become our true selves and our spiritual beauty is more fully revealed. Richard Chartres (*1947) English Gresham professor of divinity (1987-1992) Anglican Bishop of London, homily at the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate, Westminster Abbey, 29. April 2011

• Marriage is love's crucible – it has the tensile strength to contain the heat of self-transformation.
  Blog entry by Robert W. Fuller, Ph.D. robertworksfuller.com (*1936)
  US American professor of physics, college president, dignity and rankism researcher, lecturer, author, Must Love End?, presented by the US American bimonthly magazine Psychology Today, 20. September 2009

• 87% of couples have no intimacy during sex.
  70% of normal couples have sexual desire problems.
  40% of couples rarely kiss during sex.
  David Schnarch, Ph.D. (*1946) US American clinical psychologist, marital and sex therapist, author, Intimacy & Desire. Awaken the Passion in Your Relationship, Beaufort Books, 15. October 2009

• Partners eat each others hearts. If you want to torture your partner, one of the best ways to do it is around sex. The best way to out of this cruelty involves
  (a) giving a clear and complete accounting of yourself and what you've been doing, and
  (b) giving your partner a fair shot at his own vision of happiness.

Explanation: The older a couple grows together, the greater the quality of intimacy and the better the sex. Research shows that intimacy (to feel known by one's partner) and sexual pleasure are potentially better at 50-60 years of age.

• Modern society mistakenly assumes that adolescence is the sexual prime of life, because we commonly confuse genital prime with sexual prime. When adults stop to examine their own lives, they often realize that they are much better in bed when they're 50 or 60 than they were when they were twenty. If you're interested in intimacy and eroticism during sex, the more mature person is usually a better partner. Men get to the point that they can tolerate a woman who's
  an equal in bed, and they can stop performing and let someone hold them. Women stop hiding their eroticism or protecting the man's ego, and openly enjoy their sexual prowess. Men and women often become more sexually compatible as they mature, and "third-agers" often have the best sex of their lives. It turns out that cellulite and sexual potential are highly correlated! David Schnarch, Ph.D. (*1946) US American clinical psychologist, marital and sex therapist, author, Passionate Marriage. Keeping Love and Intimacy Alive in Committed Relationships, W. W. Norton & Company, 1997, reprint paperback edition 1. May 2009

• [F]rom an anthropological and sociological view, it is very clear that the basic human mating is serial monogamy plus affairs. That's it. That's not really disputable. [...] [P]air bonding is one of the basic characteristics of human relationships. Audio interview with David Schnarch, Ph.D. (*1946) US American clinical psychologist, marital and sex therapist, author, Emotional Commitment and Great Sex?, episode 4545, MP3, presented by the US American multimedia publishing company Sounds True, "Insights at the Edge", host Tami Simon (*1953) US American founder and director of Sounds True,
  1:06:42 duration, aired / archived 27. September 2011

• Question: Is marriage a particularly fertile place for dark nights of the soul to come about?
  Answer: Marriage is a great mystery. [...] It is mysterious how you meet the person, what attracted one person to the other. [...] After you have lived together for a while it gets even worse, more entangled. Marriage is a great example of the life of a soul. [...] When you marry someone else you are really getting linked up with their soul which is largely unconscious to them. [...] The marriage often contradicts your conscious de-
  sires and wishes for it. [...] You got into something that is full of soul and heart. [...] The families are very much part of the married, the families get married, too. [...] It is an illusion that is only about two people trying to be compatible. [...] You may not be compatible at all, but still you want to be together.
  Audio interview with Thomas Moore, Ph.D. (*1940) US American professor of religious studies, Catholic monk, psychotherapist, musician, writer, Marrying God. Diary of a Poet-Priest, Dark Nights of the Soul, presented by the Canadian web radio station CBC Radio Tapestry, host Mary Hynes, Canadian journalist, minutes 21:26-26:22, aired 24. July 2005

• We have stopped believing in dynastic marriages.
  We are starting to see the drawbacks of romantic marriages.
  Now comes the time for psychological marriages.
  The time has come for a third kind of marriage. The marriage of psychology. One where one doesn’t marry for land,
  or for 'the feeling' alone, but only when 'the feeling' has been properly submitted to examination and brought under
  the aegis of a mature awareness of one's own and the other's psychology.
  In the age of the marriage of reason, one might have considered the following criteria when marrying:
  ➢ who are their parents
  ➢ how much land do they have
  ➢ how culturally similar are they
  In the Romantic age, one might have looked out for the following signs to determine rightness:
  ➢ one can’t stop thinking of a lover
  ➢ one is sexually obsessed
  ➢ one thinks they are amazing
  ➢ one longs to talk to them all the time
  We need a new set of criteria. We should wonder:
  ➢ how are they mad
  ➢ how can one raise children with them
  ➢ how can one develop together
  ➢ how can one remain friends.
  Deleted article How we end up marrying the wrong people, presented by The Philosophers' Mail, written by The School of Life, undated

• For it is mutual trust, even more than mutual interest that holds human associations together. Our friends seldom
  profit us but they make us feel safe. [...] Marriage is a scheme to accomplish exactly that same end.
  H. L. Mencken (1880-1956) US American critic of American life and culture, satirist, journalist, magazine editor, essayist, author,
  cited in: Words of Wisdom. H. L. Mencken, S. 15, Students' Academy, Lulu Press, 4. December 2014

• In most marriages, levels of satisfaction drop dramatically within the first few years together. But among couples who not only endure, but live happily together for years and years, the spirit of kindness and generosity guides them forward.
  Article Masters of Love. Science says lasting relationships come down to – you guessed it – kindness and generosity., presen-
  ted by the US American magazine The Atlantic, Emily Esfahani Smith, Swiss-Canadian instructor in positive psychology, Uni-
  versity of Pennsylvania, journalist, writer, 12. June 2014

• Beyond the profound federal perks,
  • married people make more money;
  • we're healthier, physically and emotionally;
  • we produce happier, more stable and more successful kids;
  • we have more sex than our supposedly swinging single friends;
  • we even live longer.

• Between 75% and 80% of anger-rousing events are interpersonal, so it's your spouse, your kids and your coworkers who are getting it. Jerry L. Deffenbacher, Ph.D., US American behavioral psychologist, Colorado State University, cited in: Stephen J. Johnson, Ph.D., MFT, US American psychotherapist, marriage and family consultant, educator, founder and director
  of Men's Center of Los Angeles, It's A Mad, Mad, Mad Men's World, by Benedict Carey, undated

2011 study: Single men are just as eager to marry as single women.

• A 2011 study of 5,200 singles in America (done by Match.com and based on the US census to accurately represent
  the US population) showed that men are just as eager to marry as women. Among individuals between the ages
  of 21 and 34,
  • 62% of both sexes said they were eager to wed.

• It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages.
  Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900) German classical scholar, critic of culture, philologist, philosopher of nihilism, writer, cited
  in: article 40 great quotes about marriage, presented by the English daily online broadsheet The Telegraph, 28. February 2017

• A good marriage is where both people feel like they're getting the better end of the deal.
  Anne Lamott (*1954) US American recovering conversed alcoholic, bestselling author, Joe Jones. A Novel, Shoemaker & Hoard,
  1st edition 5. August 2003

Explanation: According to St. Paul in the New Testament the sex drive is the reason for marriage and longterm relationships.

• Marriage is like a thread, it must go straight or it will rattle. And I think it is always the woman who must keep the thread straight to save the marriage. That is because women are wise. They have to make choices, and they choose for the family even though sometimes they must sacrifice themselves.
  Sophia Loren (*1934) world class Italian actress, source unknown

• Marriage is one long conversation, checkered with disputes.
  Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) Scottish poet, essayist, travel writer, novelist, cited in: Dr. Les and Leslie Parrott, The Good Fight. How Conflict Can Bring You Closer, S. 12, Yates & Yates, 2013

• The survival of the Old Paradigm relies on its citizens staying asleep, therefore there is no such thing as Enlightenment or Self-Realization in the Old Paradigm. But the New Paradigm holds the space for each of us to become Awake with permission to be ever-expanding, evolving and free to be our Selves, forever-young and Eternal.
  Maha Brown, David Pan Brown, The Esoteric Path of Marriage. Spiritual Enlightenment Through Relationship, Sacred Human Press, 1st edition 15. November 2015

• Women hope men will change after marriage but they don't;
  men hope women won't change but they do.
  Bettina Arndt (*1949) Australian clinical psychologist, sex therapist, journalist, author, Private Lives, Penguin Group, 1986

• Marriage Box
  Most people get married believing a myth that marriage is a beautiful box full of all the things they have longed for;
  Companionship, intimacy, friendship, etc. [...]
  The truth is, that marriage at the start is an empty box, you must put something in before you can take anything out.
  There is no love in marriage, love is in people, and people put love in marriage.
  There is no romance in marriage, you have to infuse it into your marriage.
  A couple must learn the art, and form the habit of giving, loving, serving, praising, of keeping the box full.
  If you take out more than you put in, the box will be empty. Anonymous

• Only one man in a thousand is a leader of men – the other 999 follow women. Groucho Marx (1890-1977) US American comedian, entertainer, actor, unsourced, cited in: Djamel Ouis, Humorous Wit, S. 394, published by D. Ouis, 2020

• Intimacy is a critical ingredient to a God honoring healthy marriage.
  Intimacy is birthed out of the environment of trust.
  And trust can only be had where there is honesty.
  Video interview with Chris Beall, How do you walk through exposing an adulterous affair?, YouTube film, minute 5:50, 9:16 minutes duration, posted 14. September 2009

• Adultery never happens to one person. It is a systemic event which, if unexamined, will continue to wreak havoc on later generations. If it is a sin, that is why it is sinful. Bonnie Eaker Weil, Ph.D., US American family and relationship therapist, author, Adultery is a treatable, curable and forgivable sin!, undated

• The curse which lies upon marriage is that too often the individuals are joined in their weakness rather than in their strength, each asking from the other instead of finding pleasure in giving. It is even more deceptive to dream of gaining through the child a plenitude, a warmth, a value, which one is unable to create for oneself; the child brings joy only to the woman who is capable of disinterestedly desiring the happiness of another, to one who without being wrapped up in self seeks to transcend her own existence.
  Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986) French feminist philosopher of the first wave of feminism, lesbian pedophile enabler, author,
  The Second Sex, book 2, part 5, chapter 2 "The Mother", S. 522, 1949