--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Marriage is a civil contract; people…" description: "\"“Marriage is a civil contract; people marry to better their worldly condition and improve appearances; it is an affair of house and furniture, of liver..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81f/charles-dickens-34_marriage_marriage-is-a-civil-contract-people-marr_2419444.jpg" --- # Marriage is a civil contract; people marry to better their… ![“Marriage is a civil contract; people marry to better their worldly condition and improve appearances; it is an affair of house and furniture, of liveries, servants, equipage, and so forth. The” quote by Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81f/charles-dickens-34_marriage_marriage-is-a-civil-contract-people-marr_2419444.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81f/charles-dickens-34_marriage_marriage-is-a-civil-contract-people-marr_2419444.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81f/charles-dickens-34_marriage_marriage-is-a-civil-contract-people-marr_2419444.jpg) > ““Marriage is a civil contract; people marry to better their worldly condition and improve appearances; it is an affair of house and furniture, of liveries, servants, equipage, and so forth. The”” [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Marriage is portrayed as a transactional arrangement aimed at improving social and material standing. **In simple terms:** Marriage is often about social and economic gain. Key Takeaway Consider deeper values beyond material benefits. Themes social class marriage materialism Mood critical observational Type sociological satirical When to use this quote - arranged marriages - dowry negotiations - social mobility Key Concepts sociology economic exchange Questions to Reflect On - Do you value love or status more in partnerships? - How does economic security affect marital choices? A Different Perspective Modern relationships may prioritize love over convenience. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Civil Contract](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civil-contract-2198613/) [Marriage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marriage/) [Marriage Civil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marriage-civil-259023/) [Marry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marry/) [Marry Better](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marry-better-1843647/) [People Marry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-marry/) ## Related quotes > [State-sanctioned marriage is a civil contract, period. A contract is not a judgment of moral value. It is a legal agreement between two parties…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvey-fierstein/state-sanctioned-marriage-is-a-civil-contract-period-a-contract-is/) [Harvey Fierstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harvey-fierstein/) > [Marriage is a civil right. If you don't want gay people to marry in your church, good for you. But you can't say they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-bond/marriage-is-a-civil-right-if-you-don-t-want-gay-people-to-marry-in/) [Julian Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-bond/) > [Marriage is a psychological condition, not a civil contract and a license. Once a marriage is dead, it is dead, and it begins to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/marriage-is-a-psychological-condition-not-a-civil-contract-and-a/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [The marriage bond is more than a civil contract. It is a reward for loving well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-marriage-bond-is-more-than-a-civil-contract-it-is-a-reward-for/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The finest people marry the two sexes in their own person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-finest-people-marry-the-two-sexes-in-their-own-person/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Most people marry their mother. I married my father.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-gretzky/most-people-marry-their-mother-i-married-my-father/) [Wayne Gretzky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-gretzky/) > [It's not that marriage itself is bad; it's the people we marry who give it a bad name.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-mcmillan/it-s-not-that-marriage-itself-is-bad-it-s-the-people-we-marry-who/) [Terry McMillan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-mcmillan/) > [I've never quite understood why people marry; marriage is just an invented structure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-christie/i-ve-never-quite-understood-why-people-marry-marriage-is-just-an/) [Julie Christie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-christie/) > [The people who marry make a good marriage not marriage in itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-people-who-marry-make-a-good-marriage-not-marriage-in-itself/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [I'm about the only person in my family that's made it to 24 without being married. That's the way it works where I'm from.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-underwood/i-m-about-the-only-person-in-my-family-that-s-made-it-to-24-without/) [Carrie Underwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-underwood/) > [I will marry you for better for worse till our defferences do us part yes I do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/axll-sblns/i-will-marry-you-for-better-for-worse-till-our-defferences-do-us-part/) [AXLL\_SBLNS](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/axll-sblns/) > [“We should always be grateful for the faults in our partner because if they didn't have those faults from the start, they would have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ajahn-brahm/we-should-always-be-grateful-for-the-faults-in-our-partner-because-if/) [Ajahn Brahm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ajahn-brahm/) > [Every woman hopes that her daughter will marry a better man than she did, and is convinced that her son will never find a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/every-woman-hopes-that-her-daughter-will-marry-a-better-man-than-she/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Every mother hopes that her daughter will marry a better man than she did, and is convinced that her son will never find a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-andersen-nex/every-mother-hopes-that-her-daughter-will-marry-a-better-man-than-she/) [Martin Andersen Nexø](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-andersen-nex/) > [If a man is going to leave one wife to marry another, it's better if he divorces the first before he marries the second.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-heller/if-a-man-is-going-to-leave-one-wife-to-marry-another-it-s-better-if/) [Joseph Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-heller/) ## More by Charles Dickens > [“All other swindlers upon earth are nothing to the self-swindlers, and with such pretences did I cheat myself. Surely a curious thing. That I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/all-other-swindlers-upon-earth-are-nothing-to-the-self-swindlers-and/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [... Arthur Gride, whose bleared eyes gloated only over the outward beauties, and were blind to the spirit which reigned within, evinced - a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/arthur-gride-whose-bleared-eyes-gloated-only-over-the-outward/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [There can be no disparity in marriage like unsuitability of mind and purpose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/there-can-be-no-disparity-in-marriage-like-unsuitability-of-mind-and/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [I have tried to resign myself, and to console myself; and that, I hope, I may have done imperfectly; but what I cannot firmly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-have-tried-to-resign-myself-and-to-console-myself-and-that-i-hope-i/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [A new heart for a New Year, always!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/a-new-heart-for-a-new-year-always/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“The suspense: the fearful, acute suspense: of standing idly by while the life of one we dearly love, is trembling in the balance; the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/the-suspense-the-fearful-acute-suspense-of-standing-idly-by-while-the/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“Mrs. Joe was a very clean housekeeper, but had an exquisite art of making her cleanliness more uncomfortable and unacceptable than dirt itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/mrs-joe-was-a-very-clean-housekeeper-but-had-an-exquisite-art-of/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [There seems a magic in the very name of Christmas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/there-seems-a-magic-in-the-very-name-of-christmas/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“evening, they began to think that although he could never hope to be an Englishman, still it would be hard to visit that affliction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/evening-they-began-to-think-that-although-he-could-never-hope-to-be/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“Besides which, all that I could have said of the Story to any purpose, I had endeavoured to say in it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/besides-which-all-that-i-could-have-said-of-the-story-to-any-purpose/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“The wheels rolled on, and rolled down by the Monument, and by the Tower; and by the Docks; down by Ratcliffe, and by Rotherhithe;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/the-wheels-rolled-on-and-rolled-down-by-the-monument-and-by-the-tower/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“The three customers pulled off their hats to Madame Defarge, with three flourishes. She acknowledged their homage by bending her head, and giving them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/the-three-customers-pulled-off-their-hats-to-madame-defarge-with/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“What a situation!' cried Miss Squeers; '...What is the reason that men fall in love with me, whether I like it or not, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/what-a-situation-cried-miss-squeers-what-is-the-reason-that-men-fall/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [I admire machinery as much is any man, and am as thankful to it as any man can be for what it does for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-admire-machinery-as-much-is-any-man-and-am-as-thankful-to-it-as-any/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“Mr. Pickwick was a philosopher, but philosophers are only men in armour, after all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/mr-pickwick-was-a-philosopher-but-philosophers-are-only-men-in-armour/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) [Explore all 2,309 Charles Dickens quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) ## More Marriage quotes > [Unmarried couples should get married - that's an excellent tax avoidance measure, if a bit drastic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-whiting/unmarried-couples-should-get-married-that-s-an-excellent-tax/) [John Whiting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-whiting/) > [I know for my wife and I, we always loved the idea of being young parents. It is an incredibly inspiring and challenging job…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-hanson/i-know-for-my-wife-and-i-we-always-loved-the-idea-of-being-young/) [Taylor Hanson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-hanson/) > [I cannot forbid a person to marry several wives, for it does not contradict Scripture. MARTIN LUTHER, letter to Chancellor Gregory Brück, January 13,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-bruyere/i-cannot-forbid-a-person-to-marry-several-wives-for-it-does-not/) [Jean de la Bruyere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-bruyere/) > [I don't like being away from home. That's one reason why I don't work as much as I used to \[when I started my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-powell/i-don-t-like-being-away-from-home-that-s-one-reason-why-i-don-t-work/) [Jane Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-powell/) > [Luckily, the bullet that hit my chest never got to me. It was stopped by a silver case I got for my brother's wedding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-doohan/luckily-the-bullet-that-hit-my-chest-never-got-to-me-it-was-stopped/) [James Doohan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-doohan/) > [Do you think that God would separate me from my husband if I killed myself? I feel as though I am going out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/do-you-think-that-god-would-separate-me-from-my-husband-if-i-killed/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The thing about hitting kids is, think about if you were doing the same thing to another adult. Hitting your kid is really the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zach-braff/the-thing-about-hitting-kids-is-think-about-if-you-were-doing-the/) [Zach Braff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zach-braff/) > [“Take an interest in his appearance. Keeping his clothes in order is your job; encouraging him to look his best, and admiring him when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-baker/take-an-interest-in-his-appearance-keeping-his-clothes-in-order-is/) [Ellen Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-baker/) > [Females always say, you can't turn a hoe into a house wife, but steady be trying to turn a dog into a faithful man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hussein-nishah/females-always-say-you-can-t-turn-a-hoe-into-a-house-wife-but-steady/) [Hussein Nishah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hussein-nishah/) > [He's a fool that marries; but he's a greater fool that does not marry a fool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wycherley/he-s-a-fool-that-marries-but-he-s-a-greater-fool-that-does-not-marry/) [William Wycherley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wycherley/) > [Her dignity consists in being unknown to the world; her glory is in the esteem of her husband; her pleasures in the happiness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/her-dignity-consists-in-being-unknown-to-the-world-her-glory-is-in/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [But I think that of all the literature that I studied, the book that did more than any other to fire my enthusiasm was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kwame-nkrumah/but-i-think-that-of-all-the-literature-that-i-studied-the-book-that/) [Kwame Nkrumah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kwame-nkrumah/) > [Most marriages don't add two people together. They subtract one from the other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-fleming/most-marriages-don-t-add-two-people-together-they-subtract-one-from/) [Ian Fleming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-fleming/) > [Alimony - the ransom that the happy pay to the devil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/alimony-the-ransom-that-the-happy-pay-to-the-devil/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [“His own parents, the estimable Gilchrists, a couple who had taken the 'till death' part of their own wedding vows so seriously he wouldn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ally-blake/his-own-parents-the-estimable-gilchrists-a-couple-who-had-taken-the/) [Ally Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ally-blake/) [Browse all 31,920 Marriage quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marriage/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Marriage is a civil contract; people marry to better their worldly condition and improve appearances; it is an affair of house and furniture, of liveries, servants, equipage, and so forth. The”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Charles Dickens" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/marriage-is-a-civil-contract-people-marry-to-better-their-worldly/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Marriage" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/marriage-is-a-civil-contract-people-marry-to-better-their-worldly/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81f/charles-dickens-34_marriage_marriage-is-a-civil-contract-people-marr_2419444.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81f/charles-dickens-34_marriage_marriage-is-a-civil-contract-people-marr_2419444.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81f/charles-dickens-34_marriage_marriage-is-a-civil-contract-people-marr_2419444.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Marriage is a civil contract; people marry to better their worldly condition and improve appearances; it is…” — Charles Dickens", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Charles Dickens", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Marriage is a civil contract; people...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/marriage-is-a-civil-contract-people-marry-to-better-their-worldly/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/marriage-is-a-civil-contract-people-marry-to-better-their-worldly/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```