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It may be that same-sex couples will save the institution of marriage.

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Marriage is not simply a romantic union between two people it's also a political and economic contract of the highest order.

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People tend to think that happiness is a stroke of luck, something that will descend like fine weather if you're fortunate. But happiness is the resul...more

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Being content with what you have already is an art form that leads to a peace that can’t be replaced by anything else.

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There’s this human capacity for joy and endurance, even when things are at their worst. A joy that occurs not despite our suffering, but within it.

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My friend Kate once went to a concert of Mongolian throat singers who were traveling through New York City on a rare world tour. Although she couldn't...more

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You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestation of your own blessings.

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When it comes to developing a worldview, we tend to face this false division: Either you are a realist who says the world is terrible, or a naïve opti...more

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The Silly Putty-like malleability of the institution [marriage], in fact, is the only reason we still have the thing at all. Very few people... would ...more

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I was a veritable Johnny Appleseed of grand expectations, and all I reaped for my trouble was a harvest of bitter fruit.

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Marriage is a game. They (the anxious and powerful) set the rules. We (the ordinary and subversive) bow obediently before those rules. And then we go ...more

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The emotional place where a marriage begins is not nearly as important as the emotional place where a marriage finds itself toward the end, after many...more

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In every possible instance Saint Paul begged Christians to restrain themselves to contain their carnal yearnings to live solitary and sexless lives on...more

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The Buddha referred to married people as “householders.” He even gave clear instructions as to how one should be a good householder: Be nice to your s...more

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So when modern-day religious conservatives wax nostalgic about how marriage is a sacred tradition that reaches back into history for thousands of unin...more