I wish Jane success with all my heart; and if she were married to him to-morrow, I should think she had as good a chance of happiness as if she were to be studying his character for a twelvemonth. Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance. If the dispositions of the parties are ever so well known to each other, or ever so similar before-hand, it does not advance their felicity in the least. They always contrive to grow sufficiently unlike afterwards to have their share of vexation; and it is better to know as little as possible of the defects of the person with whom you are to pass your life.”

From “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen

Jane Austen’s gorgeous prose, but is she right?  I don’t know much about marriage, and I am afraid most people don’t.  There is one sentence in this snippet that I like and endorse: “They always contrive to grow sufficiently unlike afterwards to have their share of vexation.”  But there is another one I completely disagree with: “it is better to know as little as possible of the defects of the person with whom you are to pass your life.” The problem does not lie in this knowledge, but rather to focus on these defects more than on your better half’s virtues. But  as the red leaves of fall, hope is always around the corner.