--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you're as detached as that, why does…" description: "\"“If you're as detached as that, why does the obsolete institution of marriage survive with you?\" Oh, it still has its uses. One couldn't be divorced wi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd9/edith-wharton-512_detached_if-you-re-as-detached-as-that-why-does-t_1302766.png" --- # If you're as detached as that, why does the obsolete… ![“If you're as detached as that, why does the obsolete institution of marriage survive with you?" Oh, it still has its uses. One couldn't be divorced without it.” quote by Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd9/edith-wharton-512_detached_if-you-re-as-detached-as-that-why-does-t_1302766.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd9/edith-wharton-512_detached_if-you-re-as-detached-as-that-why-does-t_1302766.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd9/edith-wharton-512_detached_if-you-re-as-detached-as-that-why-does-t_1302766.png) > ““If you're as detached as that, why does the obsolete institution of marriage survive with you?" Oh, it still has its uses. One couldn't be divorced without it.”” [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) ## 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 pragmatic social contract rather than a romantic ideal, persisting because it provides legal and economic benefits. **In simple terms:** Marriage is a useful institution for legal and financial reasons. Key Takeaway Recognize marriage’s practical role beyond romance. Themes society law economics gender relationships Mood critical analytical skeptical Type observational critical When to use this quote - legal arrangements - financial planning - family expectations - social status - relationship negotiations Key Concepts social contract institutional critique economic utility Questions to Reflect On - How does marriage benefit you beyond legalities? - Do you think marriage can evolve beyond its origins? A Different Perspective The quote may overlook emotional and personal dimensions of marriage. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Couldn Divorced](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/couldn-divorced-4283656/) [Detached](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/detached/) [Detached Does](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/detached-does-4283657/) [Divorce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/divorce/) [Institution Marriage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/institution-marriage-238902/) [Marriage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marriage/) [Marriage Survive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marriage-survive-3108045/) ## Related quotes > [Marriage, if it is to survive, must be treated as the beginning, not as the happy ending.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/marriage-if-it-is-to-survive-must-be-treated-as-the-beginning-not-as/) [Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) > [No marriage can survive without forgiveness. Marriage is a long term commitment between two sinners.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elisabeth-elliot/no-marriage-can-survive-without-forgiveness-marriage-is-a-long-term/) [Elisabeth Elliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elisabeth-elliot/) > [In a word, live together in the forgiveness of your sins, for without it no human fellowship, least of all a marriage, can survive.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/in-a-word-live-together-in-the-forgiveness-of-your-sins-for-without/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [“If I want my marriage to survive this honeymoon road trip I know I have to stop offering my special helpful tips for driving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vivian-swift/if-i-want-my-marriage-to-survive-this-honeymoon-road-trip-i-know-i/) [Vivian Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vivian-swift/) > [What is one's personality, detached from that of the friends with whom fate happens to have linked one? I cannot think of myself apart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/what-is-one-s-personality-detached-from-that-of-the-friends-with-whom/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“During the interval between her divorce and her remarriage she had learned what things cost, but not how to do without them; and money…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/during-the-interval-between-her-divorce-and-her-remarriage-she-had/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [Redefining marriage will have huge implications for what is taught in our schools, and for wider society. 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Oaks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dallin-h-oaks/) > [If you believe, if you value and treasure and revere the institution of marriage, then you should want every family unit to be really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolle-wallace/if-you-believe-if-you-value-and-treasure-and-revere-the-institution/) [Nicolle Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolle-wallace/) > [“I think if you wanted a peaceful marriage and orderly household, you should have proposed to any one of the well-bred simpletons who've been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-kleypas/i-think-if-you-wanted-a-peaceful-marriage-and-orderly-household-you/) [Lisa Kleypas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-kleypas/) > [In all of Western civilization, there have been societies that celebrating the homosexuality, the ancient Greeks. But they, in fact, protected the institution of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-blackwell/in-all-of-western-civilization-there-have-been-societies-that/) [Ken Blackwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-blackwell/) > [The institution of marriage, if you look at it over many centuries, has come and gone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-zeldin/the-institution-of-marriage-if-you-look-at-it-over-many-centuries-has/) [Theodore Zeldin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-zeldin/) ## More by Edith Wharton > [“Suddenly the air was full of that deep clangor of bells which periodically covers Rome with a roof of silver.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/suddenly-the-air-was-full-of-that-deep-clangor-of-bells-which/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“Untrained human nature was not frank and innocent; it was full of the twists and defences of an instinctive guile. And he felt himself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/untrained-human-nature-was-not-frank-and-innocent-it-was-full-of-the/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“High Pasture Come up--come up: in the dim vale below The autumn mist muffles the fading trees, But on this keen hill-pasture, though the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/high-pasture-come-up-come-up-in-the-dim-vale-below-the-autumn-mist/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“Two ways to be a light for all, is to be a flaming candle or the mirror that reflects it”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/two-ways-to-be-a-light-for-all-is-to-be-a-flaming-candle-or-the/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“... no treasure-house of Atreus was ever as rich as a well-stored memory.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/no-treasure-house-of-atreus-was-ever-as-rich-as-a-well-stored-memory/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“...the endless labour of rolling human stupidity up the steep hill of understanding.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/the-endless-labour-of-rolling-human-stupidity-up-the-steep-hill-of/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“he saw his marriage becoming what most of the other marriages about him were: a dull association of material and social interests held together…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/he-saw-his-marriage-becoming-what-most-of-the-other-marriages-about/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [The real loneliness is living among all these kind people who only ask one to pretend!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/the-real-loneliness-is-living-among-all-these-kind-people-who-only/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [With a shiver of foreboding he saw his marriage becoming what most of the other marriages about him were: a dull association of material…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/with-a-shiver-of-foreboding-he-saw-his-marriage-becoming-what-most-of/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [Life is the saddest thing there is, next to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/life-is-the-saddest-thing-there-is-next-to-death/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [A classic is classic not because it conforms to certain structural rules, or fits certain definitions (of which its author had quite probably never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/a-classic-is-classic-not-because-it-conforms-to-certain-structural/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [There is too much sour grapes for my taste in the present American attitude. The time to denounce the bankers was when we were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/there-is-too-much-sour-grapes-for-my-taste-in-the-present-american/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“But in a few years more perhaps there may be; for, deep within us as the ghost instinct lurks, I seem to see it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/but-in-a-few-years-more-perhaps-there-may-be-for-deep-within-us-as/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [Dialogue in fiction should be reserved for the culminating moments and regarded as the spray into which the great wave of narrative breaks in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/dialogue-in-fiction-should-be-reserved-for-the-culminating-moments/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“These Americans, under their forthcoming manner, their surface-gush, as some might call it, have an odd reticence about what goes on underneath.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/these-americans-under-their-forthcoming-manner-their-surface-gush-as/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) [Explore all 504 Edith Wharton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) ## More Detached quotes > [“The rich eat life, the poor eat death; so what is the problem they ask?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-liccione/the-rich-eat-life-the-poor-eat-death-so-what-is-the-problem-they-ask/) [Anthony Liccione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-liccione/) > [Marriages are always moving from one season to another. 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H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [How do we awaken to this true Self? 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