--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Marriage is a strange combination of…" description: "\"Marriage is a strange combination of dream and reality, and we spend our lives as couples trying to negotiate that divide.\" — Elizabeth Gilbert" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cdf/elizabeth-gilbert-131_combination_marriage-is-a-strange-combination-of-dre_854520.jpg" --- # Marriage is a strange combination of dream and reality… ![“Marriage is a strange combination of dream and reality, and we spend our lives as couples trying to negotiate that divide.” quote by Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cdf/elizabeth-gilbert-131_combination_marriage-is-a-strange-combination-of-dre_854520.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cdf/elizabeth-gilbert-131_combination_marriage-is-a-strange-combination-of-dre_854520.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cdf/elizabeth-gilbert-131_combination_marriage-is-a-strange-combination-of-dre_854520.jpg) > “Marriage is a strange combination of dream and reality, and we spend our lives as couples trying to negotiate that divide.” [Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Marriage blends idealistic hopes with everyday practicalities, requiring partners to constantly balance aspirations and reality. **In simple terms:** Marriage mixes dreams and reality, needing constant negotiation. Key Takeaway Cultivate open dialogue to align expectations. Themes relationships expectations communication Mood reflective empathetic Type advice relationship When to use this quote - couples counseling - daily decision making - conflict resolution - long‑term planning Key Concepts marital dynamics psychology of partnership Questions to Reflect On - How do you reconcile personal dreams with shared responsibilities? - What habits help maintain balance? A Different Perspective Idealism can clash with practical constraints, causing tension. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Couple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/couple/) [Couples](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/couples/) [Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream/) [Dream reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream-reality/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Dreams and reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams-and-reality/) [Marriage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marriage/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) ## Related quotes > [“No one can ever know the inner parts of anyone else’s marriage. It’s a strange business.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-courtney-sullivan/no-one-can-ever-know-the-inner-parts-of-anyone-else-s-marriage-it-s-a/) [J. Courtney Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-courtney-sullivan/) > [Marriage is a very strange thing. It’s a very public institution, it’s meant to tell the world that two people are going to live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shashi-deshpande/marriage-is-a-very-strange-thing-it-s-a-very-public-institution-it-s/) [Shashi Deshpande](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shashi-deshpande/) > [“A daily dosage of positive energy so corrosive that it wears out every negative doubt as the gap between the dream & reality closes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curtis-tyrone-jones/a-daily-dosage-of-positive-energy-so-corrosive-that-it-wears-out/) [Curtis Tyrone Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/curtis-tyrone-jones/) > [The dreamers of the day are dangerous... for they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-e-lawrence/the-dreamers-of-the-day-are-dangerous-for-they-may-act-their-dream/) [T. E. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-lawrence/) > [What is wonderful about my art is that dream and reality can become one. 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If it happens that the question which we wish to examine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-le-rond-d-alembert/geometry-which-should-only-obey-physics-when-united-with-it-sometimes/) [Jean le Rond d'Alembert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-le-rond-d-alembert/) > [The combination of such characters, some, as the sacral ones, altogether peculiar among Reptiles, others borrowed, as it were, from groups now distinct from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-owen/the-combination-of-such-characters-some-as-the-sacral-ones-altogether/) [Richard Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-owen/) > [Henry Kissinger may have wished I had presented him as a combination of Charles DeGaulle and Disraeli, but I didn't…out of respect for DeGaulle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oriana-fallaci/henry-kissinger-may-have-wished-i-had-presented-him-as-a-combination/) [Oriana Fallaci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oriana-fallaci/) > [A combination of the qualities of the scholar, the master cook, the painter, the gastronomer, the sportsman and the pantologist, assisted by the skill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-ellwanger/a-combination-of-the-qualities-of-the-scholar-the-master-cook-the/) [George Ellwanger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-ellwanger/) > [I did play a lot of fingerstyle when I first started playing. 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