“Both men and women today see marriage not as a way of creating character and community but as a way to reach personal life goals. They are looking for a marriage partner who will 'fulfill their emotional, sexual, and spiritual desires.' And that creates an extreme idealism that in turn leads to a deep pessimism that you will ever find the right person to marry.”

“It seems almost oxymoronic to believe that this new idealism has led to a new pessimism about marriage, but that is exactly what has happened. In generations past there was far less talk about "compatibility" and finding the ideal soul mate. Today we are looking for someone who accepts us as we are and fulfills our desires, and this creates an unrealistic set of expectations that frustrates both the searchers and the searched for.”

“Marriage is life where you must have eight lives for your partner exclusively! It is also a new beginning that is good as physical-connection, appreciation, recreation, communication, spiritual-connection, emotion, sexual-connection and passionate-intuition.”

“Married women are far more depressed than married men -- in unhappy marriages, three times more; and -- interestingly -- in happy marriages, five times more. In truth, it is men who are thriving in marriage, now as always, and who show symptoms of psychological and physical distress outside it. Not only their emotional well-being but their very lives, some studies say, depend on being married!”

“Marriage can be made to work if both the partners can see beyond themselves and understand the limitations,needs and abilities of the other person and are willing to embrace the positive and negative aspects of each other in their understanding.But it never happens that way. We expect others to understand and comply with us while we fail to do the same.Thus marriage loses all it's sheen by the time the couple reaches middle age.”

“This is not another book about seeking fulfillment in your singleness. As beings created in God’s image, we were designed for relationship—that’s why extended singleness leaves so many women discontent. It’s also why we should be intentional about finding fulfillment in marriage. Getting married isn’t just something that’s ‘nice if it happens.’ Marriage is what most of us are called to pursue.”