Thursday, March 23, 2006

Tolstoy on the Purpose of Marriage

Jollyblogger has a great quote by Tolstoy on the Purpose of Marriage, wrtitten by Tolstoy to his son:

The goal of our life should not be to find joy in marriage, but to bring more love and truth into the world. We marry to assist each other in this larger task. Though we should indeed love our spouse with true satisfaction, the most selfish and hateful life of all is that of two beings who unite merely in order to enjoy pleasures. The highest calling is that of the man who has dedicated his life to serving God and doing good, and who unites with a woman in order to happily further that purpose.
What a beautiful ideal of what a marriage should be. Here's to praying and looking for a marriage like that!

2 comments:

jeremy h. said...

Brian, I don't suppose you know where this quote comes from? (A collection of letters, maybe?) I'm coming up empty on Google.

Brian Hollar said...

Jeremy, I'm not sure. I just left a question on the blog I got this off of (see link my post). I'll let you know if I get any feedback from him.