They are all alike you know. They hold their tongues for years and you think you're safe, but when the opportunity comes they remember everything.
Edith WhartonRead
I don't know if I should care for a man who made life easy; I should want someone who made it interesting.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the value of having a partner who brings excitement and depth to life rather than simply making it convenient.
Edith Wharton's quote suggests that a meaningful relationship goes beyond mere comfort and ease; it highlights the importance of having a partner who challenges and enriches one's life experiences. Rather than settling for someone who simply simplifies life, the speaker expresses a desire for a companion who adds complexity and intrigue, fostering growth and excitement in both life and love.
In practice
During a wedding speech to emphasize the importance of adventure in love.
They are all alike you know. They hold their tongues for years and you think you're safe, but when the opportunity comes they remember everything.
They seemed to come suddenly upon happiness as if they had surprised a butterfly in the winter woods
Set wide the window. Let me drink the day.
And I wonder, among all the tangles of this mortal coil, which one contains tighter knots to undo, & consequently suggests more tugging, & pain, & diversified elements of misery, than the marriage tie.
As he paid the hansom and followed his wife's long train into the house he took refuge in the comforting platitude that the first six months were always the most difficult in marriage. 'After that I suppose we shall have pretty nearly finished rubbing off each otherβs angles,' he reflected; but the worst of it was that May's pressure was already bearing on the very angles whose sharpness he most wanted to keep
There are two ways to spread happiness; either be the light who shines it or be the mirror who reflects it.
At my age, and in my circumstances, what sinister object, or personal emolument had I to seek after, in this life? The growing infirmities of age and the increasing love of retirement, daily confirm my decided predilection for domestic life: and the great Searcher of human hearts is my witness, that I have no wish, which aspires beyond the humble and happy lot of living and dying a private citizen on my own farm.
I was lucky to come from a difficult area. It teaches you not just about football but also life.
The Annex is an ideal place to hide in. It may be damp and lopsided, but there's probably not a more comfortable hiding place in all of Amsterdam. No, in all of Holland.
Come children, let us shut up the box and the puppets, for our play is played out.
Most people honestly want to do as well as they can in their lives.
Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever so on the road.
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