---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Once more it was borne in on him that…"
description: "\"Once more it was borne in on him that marriage was not the safe anchorage he had been taught to think, but an uncharted voyage on the seas.\" — Edith Wh..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba0/edith-wharton-512_literature_once-more-it-was-borne-in-on-him-that-ma_2241224.png"
---

#  Once more it was borne in on him that marriage was not the…

![“Once more it was borne in on him that marriage was not the safe anchorage he had been taught to think, but an uncharted voyage on the seas.” quote by Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba0/edith-wharton-512_literature_once-more-it-was-borne-in-on-him-that-ma_2241224.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba0/edith-wharton-512_literature_once-more-it-was-borne-in-on-him-that-ma_2241224.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba0/edith-wharton-512_literature_once-more-it-was-borne-in-on-him-that-ma_2241224.png)

> “Once more it was borne in on him that marriage was not the safe anchorage he had been taught to think, but an uncharted voyage on the seas.”

[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 uncertain and adventurous, not a guaranteed safe haven.

**In simple terms:** Marriage is risky, not always safe.

Key Takeaway

Approach relationships with realistic expectations.

Themes

marriage uncertainty adventure

Mood

reflective cautious

Type

literary philosophical

When to use this quote

- dating
- long‑term partnership
- family planning

Key Concepts

social expectations risk assessment

Questions to Reflect On

- How do you balance romance with realism?
- What risks are you willing to accept in partnership?

A Different Perspective

Romantic idealism may overlook practical challenges.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Marriage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marriage/) [Sea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sea/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Travel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/travel/) [Voyage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/voyage/) [Voyages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/voyages/)

## Related quotes

> [Once more it was borne in on him that marriage was not the safe anchorage he had been taught to think, but a voyage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/once-more-it-was-borne-in-on-him-that-marriage-was-not-the-safe/)

[Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/)

> [If you cannot read all your books, at any rate handle them, and, as it were, fondle them. Let them fall open where they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/if-you-cannot-read-all-your-books-at-any-rate-handle-them-and-as-it/)

[Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/)

> [Style is how you see the world and how the world sees you. It isn't today and it isn't tomorrow; it isn't a dress…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-edgarian/style-is-how-you-see-the-world-and-how-the-world-sees-you-it-isn-t/)

Carol Edgarian

> [Life’s a voyage that’s homeward bound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/life-s-a-voyage-that-s-homeward-bound/)

[Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/)

> [Life's uncertain voyage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/life-s-uncertain-voyage/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [Permit me voyage, love, into your hands...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hart-crane/permit-me-voyage-love-into-your-hands/)

[Hart Crane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hart-crane/)

> [The traditional metaphor for a spiritual investigation is that of the voyage or the journey. From this image I must dissociate myself. I do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-traditional-metaphor-for-a-spiritual-investigation-is-that-of-the/)

[Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/)

> [Those we love can but walk down to the pier with us - the voyage we must make alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/those-we-love-can-but-walk-down-to-the-pier-with-us-the-voyage-we/)

[William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/)

> [The whole thing was like a nine-month ocean voyage to which you never got acclimatized.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agatha-christie/the-whole-thing-was-like-a-nine-month-ocean-voyage-to-which-you-never/)

[Agatha Christie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agatha-christie/)

> [Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/once-you-have-traveled-the-voyage-never-ends-but-is-played-out-over/)

[Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/)

> [For me... it was always about the challenge of making this voyage... It was always a calculated risk, but life is a risk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-watson/for-me-it-was-always-about-the-challenge-of-making-this-voyage-it-was/)

[Jessica Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-watson/)

> [Le veritable voyage de decouverte ne consiste pas a chercher de nouveaux paysages, mais a avoir de nouveaux yeux. (The real voyage of discovery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/le-veritable-voyage-de-decouverte-ne-consiste-pas-a-chercher-de/)

[Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/)

> [No friend to Love like a long voyage at sea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aphra-behn/no-friend-to-love-like-a-long-voyage-at-sea/)

[Aphra Behn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aphra-behn/)

> [Voyage, travel, and change of place impart vigor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/voyage-travel-and-change-of-place-impart-vigor/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Be the inner journeys, be the outer travels, all trips elevate man, all voyages lift him up!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/be-the-inner-journeys-be-the-outer-travels-all-trips-elevate-man-all/)

[Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/)

## 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 Literature quotes

> [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/)

[Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/)

> [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/)

[Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/)

> [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/)

[Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/)

> [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/)

> [It is not my intention to explain Turkey, its culture and its problems. My literature has a universal concern: I want to bring people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orhan-pamuk/it-is-not-my-intention-to-explain-turkey-its-culture-and-its-problems/)

[Orhan Pamuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orhan-pamuk/)

> [You get below the Mason-Dixon line and you have some of the best music, culture, the two races, the literature, and it's so rich.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-duvall/you-get-below-the-mason-dixon-line-and-you-have-some-of-the-best/)

[Robert Duvall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-duvall/)

> [“We ought to know the history of our ancient ancestors.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/we-ought-to-know-the-history-of-our-ancient-ancestors/)

[Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/)

> [The memoir by women, read by female readers, is considered a market form, not "great literature."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-zambreno/the-memoir-by-women-read-by-female-readers-is-considered-a-market/)

[Kate Zambreno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-zambreno/)

> [Everything is allowable in literature, but what is not allowable in criticism is objection on the grounds of probability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-jacobson/everything-is-allowable-in-literature-but-what-is-not-allowable-in/)

[Howard Jacobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-jacobson/)

> [I have always been fascinated by the supernatural elements in stories, whether fairy tales, myths, film or literature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trudi-canavan/i-have-always-been-fascinated-by-the-supernatural-elements-in-stories/)

[Trudi Canavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trudi-canavan/)

> [ He \[an earnest young reporter\] seemed to share the view of many intelligent, well-educated, well-meaning people that, while adult literature may aim to be… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-paterson/he-an-earnest-young-reporter-seemed-to-share-the-view-of-many/)

[Katherine Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-paterson/)

> [Literature transforms and intensifies ordinary language, deviates systematically from everyday speech. If you approach me at a bus stop and murmur Thou still unravished…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/literature-transforms-and-intensifies-ordinary-language-deviates/)

[Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/)

> [Nineteenth-century English literature I know; 19th-century sewage systems, not so much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/nineteenth-century-english-literature-i-know-19th-century-sewage/)

[Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/)

> [Absolute is a game with only one player where Absolute forgets itself so it would have a reason to fulfill the motion while returning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dejan-stojanovic/absolute-is-a-game-with-only-one-player-where-absolute-forgets-itself/)

[Dejan Stojanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dejan-stojanovic/)

> [I soon realized that a student of English literature who does not know the Bible does not understand a good deal of what is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/northrop-frye/i-soon-realized-that-a-student-of-english-literature-who-does-not/)

[Northrop Frye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/northrop-frye/)

[Browse all 5,800 Literature quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Once more it was borne in on him that marriage was not the safe anchorage he had been taught to think, but an uncharted voyage on the seas.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Edith Wharton"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/once-more-it-was-borne-in-on-him-that-marriage-was-not-the-safe-2/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Literature"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/once-more-it-was-borne-in-on-him-that-marriage-was-not-the-safe-2/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba0/edith-wharton-512_literature_once-more-it-was-borne-in-on-him-that-ma_2241224.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba0/edith-wharton-512_literature_once-more-it-was-borne-in-on-him-that-ma_2241224.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba0/edith-wharton-512_literature_once-more-it-was-borne-in-on-him-that-ma_2241224.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Once more it was borne in on him that marriage was not the safe anchorage he had been taught to think, but…” — Edith Wharton",
                "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": "Edith Wharton",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Once more it was borne in...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/once-more-it-was-borne-in-on-him-that-marriage-was-not-the-safe-2/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/once-more-it-was-borne-in-on-him-that-marriage-was-not-the-safe-2/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
