BEFORE you marry!
 

Be slow in choosing—especially with regard
to wife or husband.

 

An unwise marriage—will prove to be a calamity!

 

Before you marry—have a house wherein to tarry.
One would think this advice unnecessary, but people
are reckless nowadays. We, hope our readers will not
begin housekeeping with furniture on credit:
it is not creditable.

 

Marriage is either kill—or cure.
It is either ‘mar age’—or ‘merry age’,
as the case may be.

"O matrimony! you are like
To Jeremiah’s figs—
The good are very good indeed;
The bad too sour for pigs!"

 

Marry in a hurry—and live in a worry!

 

Take time to do—that which time cannot undo.

 

Marry in haste—and repent at leisure!

 

"The frogs in Aesop’s fable were extremely wise:
they greatly needed some water, but they would not
leap into the well because they could not get out again.
 

Blessed is the man who can say, after twenty years:
"I did commit no act of folly—
When I married my sweet Molly."

 

Right mixture makes good mortar.
Due proportion and thorough blending of
various graces—make up good character.

 

In marriage a fit blend is almost everything.
Once married, it is for better or worse—forever!

 

Don't be in a hurry to tie—what you cannot untie.
Marriage is one of these things. Be careful!
"In choice of a friend
One may often amend
When he finds his affection misspent;
But in choosing a wife
A close partner for life,
There is left us no room to repent!"

 

He who ‘courts in sport’ may be caught in earnest.
Many are caught in a marriage which he never
intended—which turns out a life-long bondage.

 

He who marries a fool—is a fool!
He did not use sufficient discretion and
discernment. However, fool or no fool—
he is in for it for life, and must bear
the consequences!

 

A good husband—makes a good wife.
A gracious disposition in the one—influences the
other, and little faults are almost insensibly cured.
The proverb is equally true in reference to the wife,
but she has harder material to work upon, and
sometimes she fails to make her husband what
he should be.

 

A rich man may make a poor husband! Better to
have a treasure in the man—than with the man.

 

An obedient wife commands her husband.
By her love—the good man is conquered,
so that he delights to give her pleasure.

 

The house is the woman's dominion, and
her husband should let her reign, saying,
"Only in the throne will I be greater than you."
He will be wise seldom to sit on that throne.

 

Buttons all right—are husbands’ delight.
What vexation may be caused by neglect
of such a little thing as a button! Let wives
think nothing trivial, which tends to peace.

 

Dirty wives—make drunken husbands!
Doubtless if the house were kept more
clean and comfortable, the man would
have less temptation to spend his
evenings in drinking company.

 

Expensive wife—makes pensive husband.
When the drapers bill drains his pocket, the
poor man thinks more than he dares to say.
The arithmetic of a good wife is very different.
She . . .
adds to his happiness,
subtracts from his cares,
multiplies his joys,
divides his sorrows, and
practices reduction in the
expenditure of his household.

 

This "last word" business—is a miserable one.
It would seem the best for both husband and
wife to leave off angry words at once, and so
both hasten to have the last word.
As for the wife's being quite so humble as to
speak only when she is spoken to, the notion
is a relic of savage life, and finds no echo in a
Christian man's head. Among true Christians
the wife is the equal of her husband, and is
had in honor by him. The wife is not the head,
but she is the crown—and that is higher still.

 

‘Harry Heartless’ will make a bad husband.
Better let him remain a bachelor.

 

"Have the potatoes and bacon done,
And nice white cloth as the clock strikes one."
The meals nicely cooked keep the husband in humor,
and prevent his seeking the pub and its temptations.

 

If Jack were better—Jill would not be so bad.
Often the husband creates the wife's faults,
and vice versa.

 

If your husband is a dog—don't be a cat!
If you are, you will lead a cat-and-dog life.

 

If you don't like crab-apples—don't plant crab-trees.
If you prefer peace and quietness, be peaceful and quiet.
Married people should not create causes for contention,
lest contention should spoil their union.

 

Don't be fooled by pretty face;
Look for character and grace.
Mere bodily beauty is like an almanac:
if it lasts a year—it is well.
Beauty and money are too fleeting
a reason for marriage.

 

When persons, who were very loving,
disagree, the quarrel is often very sharp.
"Spoons before marriage—may become
knives and forks afterwards!"

 

Think well before you tie—what you cannot untie.
Enter upon marriage with courage—but with caution.

 

Tarry, tarry, tarry, tarry,
Think again before you marry.
One might push this tarrying too far,
but we seldom meet with such a case.
Most rush at matrimony—like a dog at
a piece of meat.

 

Today married—tomorrow harried!

Wedlock is a padlock. A padlock is a very
useful thing to preserve treasure. But it is
hurtful to locked into a marriage much disliked.

 

Wedlock is either kill—or cure!

 

A fair face—may be a foul bargain!
Young men should not be carried away with mere
beauty—but look to character and disposition.
One who marries a woman for her beauty alone
—is as foolish as the man who ate a bird because
it sang so sweetly.

 

As married people grow old, the tendency to
correct each other in every trifling mistake is
often developed; and it is so trying that they will
be wise to watch against it with the utmost care.
"Needles and pins, needles and pins
When a man marries—his trouble begins!"

 

A Quaker who married a couple said,
"Now you are at the end of your troubles."
Some time after, the afflicted husband
reminded him of the saying, and charged
him with misleading him. "Nay," said the
Quaker, "I said you were at the end of your
troubles—but I did not say at which end."

 

Obedient wives—lead their husbands.

 

Sensible men know when they have good wives,
and they are glad to let them manage the house,
and lead them on to prosperity.

 

For husbands:
Instead of trying to reform your wife,
you will find it much more profitable
to reform your wife's husband.

 

For wives:
Instead of trying to reform your husband,
you will find it much more profitable to
reform your husbands wife.

 

The plow goes badly when one ox pulls
one way—and the other another. When
husband and wife are not of one mind,
family arrangements are disarranged.

 

The wife that loves the looking-glass
hates the saucepan!
This is not always true; yet the fear is
that the folly which shows itself in dress
and self-admiration should lead to neglect
of household duties. Blessed is the wife
who can cook well, for she shall have
her husband home to dinner.

 

Summary wisdom for husbands:
"Husbands, in the same way be considerate
as you live with your wives, and treat them
with respect as the weaker partner and as
heirs with you of the gracious gift of life,
so that nothing will hinder your prayers."
1 Peter 3:7

Summary wisdom for wives:
"Wives, submit to your husbands, as is
fitting in the Lord." Colossians 3:18

 

Summary wisdom for all relationships:
"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and
dearly loved—clothe yourselves with compassion,
kindness, humility, gentleness and patience."
Colossians 3:12