You know the old adage: Plant an expectation, reap a disappointment.
Elizabeth GilbertRead
What I think is amazing is not that 85% of people who get married under the age of 25 get divorced, it's that 15% of them stay together. How did they manage to pull that off? You almost can't wait too long. It's the single simplest measure to predict divorce.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the surprising resilience of a minority of young marriages despite high divorce rates.
Elizabeth Gilbert highlights the paradox of marriage statistics, noting that while the majority of individuals who marry young end up divorced, a notable 15% manage to sustain their marriages. She prompts us to consider the factors that contribute to the success of these couples and the notion that sometimes, societal expectations around timing can influence relational outcomes.
Themes
MarriageDivorceRelationshipsLoveCommitment
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about marriage, you could cite this quote to challenge assumptions about young couples.
More from Elizabeth Gilbert
All quotes →Do not apologize for crying. Without this emotion, we are only robots.
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I had always been taught that the pursuit of happiness was my natural (even national) birthright. It is the emotional trademark of my culture to seek happiness. Not just any kind of happiness, either, but profound happiness, even soaring happiness. And what could possibly bring a person more soaring happiness than romantic love.
Elizabeth GilbertRead
When I tried this morning, after an hour or so of unhappy thinking, to dip back into my meditation, I took a new idea with me: compassion. I asked my heart if it could please infuse my soul with a more generous perspective on my mind's workings. Instead of thinking that I was a failure, could I perhaps accept that I am only a human being--and a normal one, at that?
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And when you sense a faint potentiality for happiness after such dark times you must grab onto the ankles of that happiness and not let go until it drags you face-first out of the dirt - this is not selfishness, but obligation. You were given life; it is your duty to find something beautiful within life no matter how slight.
Elizabeth GilbertRead
But never again use another person's body or emotions as a scratching post for your own unfulfilling yearnings.
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