Wedding: A ceremony at which two persons undertake to become one, one undertakes to become nothing, and nothing undertakes to become supportable.
Source: The Devil's Dictionary (1911)
Topic
The collection is more honest than consoling. Calvin on looseness with words being as much a defect as looseness of the bowels; Kraus on strong men having doubts after decisions rather than before. Wilde on the indefinable charm of weakness, which turns out to be its chief power over others. Bradstreet on authority without wisdom as an axe without an edge. Franklin's two-word instruction — when in doubt, don't — is the sharpest piece here. Amiel on passion as what separates a latent force from an active one. These quotes do not pretend that weakness is virtuous: they are interested in the mechanics of what makes a person act badly under pressure, and what a clear-eyed observer should notice.
Wedding: A ceremony at which two persons undertake to become one, one undertakes to become nothing, and nothing undertakes to become supportable.
It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one
A chain is no stronger than its weakest link, and life is after all a chain.
There is no more miserable human being than one in whom nothing is habitual but indecision.