Don't marry : $b or, Advice on how, when and who to marry — John Shaqi
Don't marry : $b or, Advice on how, when and who to marryDonovan, James W.
General
Don't marry : $b or, Advice on how, when and who to marry
Donovan, James W.
Marriage
What sublime contempt a man must have for one who simply loves his
pocket-book! Why not love his farm, or lumber-yard, or herd of cattle?
The love of money is a miserly pretence of affection that leads to
discontent, distrust, and disgust when they find it out.
Besides, wealthy men are men of care. The wife of a noted millionnaire
has had her husband’s body stolen from its vault, has been long kept in
agony, is an object of pity to all who know her. Another wife was heard
to say, “Why, I don’t have the privilege, nor the money, nor the good
times that my girl Bridget enjoys. I am poor and anxious and depressed,
and weary of hearing my husband say, over and over again, ‘You are
fixing for the poor-house.’ He really thinks and believes we will end
life in the poor-house; and yet he enjoys a princely income.” Thousands
of such men carry their load of care, and load of wealth, and load of
anxiety, and how can they carry any burden of love?
_Don’t marry a very small man_--a little fellow far below all
proportion; try to get some form to admire, something to shape things
to, and some one who is not lost in a crowd completely, who is too
little to admire and too small for beauty. You may need strong arms
and brave hands to protect you. You will need hands to provide for
and maintain you, and a good form is a fine beginning of manhood or
womanhood.
Mental greatness is not measured by size of brain or bodily
proportions. Great men are neither always wise nor always large; they
are more often of more medium build, and well balanced in gifts of
mental and physical development. Of the two, a very large man is better
than a small one, and a medium large woman likewise.
_Don’t marry too young._ The right age to marry is a matter of
taste; twenty-one for girls, and twenty-four for men may be a little
arbitrary, but certainly is sensible. The happy early marriages are
rare. It too often happens that love is mistaken, or poorly informed,
or lacks an anchor in good judgment. There is no use of reasoning about
it,--love is love, and will marry in spite of reason, and in some cases
it runs away with its choice and repents it a thousand times soon after.
But be sensible, for a life contract should be a sensible one. What
is the use of throwing away one season--skipping girlhood or boyhood
to rush into maturity and maternity? The records of divorce courts
tell the silly and sorrowful stories of many a mismated pair, married
too young and slowly repenting of their rashness. Ask of your truest
friends; take counsel; be above foolishness.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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