Marriage is like a cage; one sees the birds outside desperate to get in, and those inside equally desperate to get out.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Marriage involves a paradox where people desire what they do not have and resent what they possess.
- In plain terms
- People want marriage until they get it, then they want out.
- What can you take from it?
- Recognize the paradox in commitments.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Why do people want things they can't keep?
- What makes commitment difficult?
Another view
Not all marriages follow this pattern; many find lasting contentment.
More from Michel de Montaigne
Make your educational laws strict and your criminal ones can be gentle; but if you leave youth its liberty you will have to dig dungeons for ages.
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Permalink to quote #101 Love to his soul gave eyes; he knew things are not as they seem. The dream is his real life; the world around him is the dream.
Permalink to quote #98
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