He that hath a wife and children hath given hostages to fortune;
for they are impediments to great enterprises, read more

He that hath a wife and children hath given hostages to fortune;
for they are impediments to great enterprises, either of virtue
or mischief.

'Cause grace and virtue are within
Prohibited degrees of kin;
And therefore no true saint allows,
read more

'Cause grace and virtue are within
Prohibited degrees of kin;
And therefore no true saint allows,
They shall be suffer'd to espouse.

Marriage and hanging go by destiny; matches are made in heaven.

Marriage and hanging go by destiny; matches are made in heaven.

Cursed be the man, the poorest wretch in life,
The crouching vassal, to the tyrant wife,
Who read more

Cursed be the man, the poorest wretch in life,
The crouching vassal, to the tyrant wife,
Who has no will but by her high permission;
Who has not sixpence but in her possession;
Who must to her his dear friend's secret tell;
Who dreads a curtain lecture worse than hell.
Were such the wife had fallen to my part,
I'd break her spirit or I'd break her heart.

To sit, happy married lovers; Phillis trifling with a plover's
Egg, while Corydon uncovers with a grace the Sally read more

To sit, happy married lovers; Phillis trifling with a plover's
Egg, while Corydon uncovers with a grace the Sally Lunn,
Or dissects the luck pheasant--that, I think, were passing
pleasant
As I sit along at present, dreaming darkly of a dun.

House and riches are the inheritance of fathers: and a prudent
wife is from the Lord.

House and riches are the inheritance of fathers: and a prudent
wife is from the Lord.

(Matrimony) is not by any to be entered into unadvisedly or
lightly; but reverently, discreetly, advisedly, soberly, and in
read more

(Matrimony) is not by any to be entered into unadvisedly or
lightly; but reverently, discreetly, advisedly, soberly, and in
the fear of God.

To have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse,
for richer, for poorer, in sickness, read more

To have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse,
for richer, for poorer, in sickness, and in health, to love and
to cherish, till death us do part.

With this ring I thee wed, with my body I thee worship, and with
all my worldly goods I read more

With this ring I thee wed, with my body I thee worship, and with
all my worldly goods I thee endow.