Lovers must not, like usurers, live for themselves alone. They must finally turn from their gaze at one another back toward the community. If they had only themselves to consider, lovers would not need to marry, but they must think of others and of other things. They say their vows to the community as much as to one another, and the community gathers around them to hear and to wish them well, on their behalf and its own. It gathers around them because it understands how necessary, how joyful, and how fearful this joining is. These lovers, pledging themselves to one another "until death, " are giving themselves away, and they are joined by this as no law or contract could join them. Lovers, then, "die" into their union with one another as a soul "dies" into its union with God. And so here, at the very heart of community life, we find not something to sell as in the public market but this momentous giving. If the community cannot protect this giving, it can protect nothing..Wendell Berry
About This Quote
The world of love and relationships is often emotionally and physically draining. For some, it can be a seemingly endless cycle of confusion and disappointment. However, when we love one another in the right way, we learn to appreciate one another and we can learn to work together in a mutually beneficial way. When you love someone, you encourage them to be the best person they can be.
As to marriage, it’s usually because partners feel that they want to share their lives with someone else. If you marry someone, then you want to share your life with them as well as your love for them.
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