“He who takes a wife is not idle, for marriage keeps him busy. To remain continent in celibacy confronts one with temptations that are not trivial, as the experienced know. On the other hand, the annoyances of married life are [almost] unbearable to men.
Accordingly Socrates is reported to have given a good answer to a man who was contemplating marriage: Whatever you may do, you’ll regret it. In paradise, where there was no such ardor and raging passion, marriage must have been very pleasant. Flesh and blood were different then.
But we have become so infected with original sin that there’s no kind of life which, once undertaken, isn’t a matter of regret at times. This is the fault of our original sin, which has defiled and deformed all human nature. It seems to me that it is the pleasantest kind of life to have a moderate household, to live with an obedient wife, and to be content with little.” He [Martin Luther] looked up to heaven [and sighed], “Dear God, how art thou to arrange things so as to please us?” — Martin Luther
