--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When you sympathize with a married woman…" description: "\"When you sympathize with a married woman you either make two enemies or gain one wife and one friend.\" — H. L. Mencken" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/69b/h-l-mencken-245_enemy_when-you-sympathize-with-a-married-woman_2468980.png" --- # When you sympathize with a married woman you either make… ![“When you sympathize with a married woman you either make two enemies or gain one wife and one friend.” quote by H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/69b/h-l-mencken-245_enemy_when-you-sympathize-with-a-married-woman_2468980.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/69b/h-l-mencken-245_enemy_when-you-sympathize-with-a-married-woman_2468980.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/69b/h-l-mencken-245_enemy_when-you-sympathize-with-a-married-woman_2468980.png) > “When you sympathize with a married woman you either make two enemies or gain one wife and one friend.” [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Sympathizing with a married woman creates conflict or gains a valuable ally. **In simple terms:** Choose empathy wisely. Key Takeaway Consider consequences before intervening. Themes relationships ethics social dynamics Mood thoughtful wry Type philosophical humorous When to use this quote - dating advice - workplace interactions - family mediation Key Concepts marriage friendship conflict trust Questions to Reflect On - Will your empathy help or harm? - Who benefits from your involvement? A Different Perspective Misreading intentions can damage reputations. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Enemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enemy/) [Friend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friend/) [Marriage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marriage/) [Married women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/married-women/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [One friend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/one-friend/) [Sympathy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sympathy/) [Wife](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wife/) [Women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/women/) ## Related quotes > [No married woman ever trusts her husband absolutely, nor does she ever act as if she did trust him. Her utmost confidence is as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/no-married-woman-ever-trusts-her-husband-absolutely-nor-does-she-ever/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [A married woman is a slave you must know how to seat upon a throne.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/a-married-woman-is-a-slave-you-must-know-how-to-seat-upon-a-throne/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [In a husband, there is only a man; in a married woman, there is a man, a father, a mother and a woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/in-a-husband-there-is-only-a-man-in-a-married-woman-there-is-a-man-a/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [ In the forties \[1940s\] in Washington it was still unusual for a rich and socially well-connected married woman to work. If she did, her… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brinkley/in-the-forties-1940s-in-washington-it-was-still-unusual-for-a-rich/) [David Brinkley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brinkley/) > [I've never been out with a married woman, never. I respect others properties.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-caine/i-ve-never-been-out-with-a-married-woman-never-i-respect-others/) [Michael Caine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-caine/) > [A married woman has the same natural right to acquire and hold property, and to make all contracts that she is mentally competent to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lysander-spooner/a-married-woman-has-the-same-natural-right-to-acquire-and-hold/) [Lysander Spooner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lysander-spooner/) > [A woman, even a married woman, cannot float without proper escort. It is simply not done.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-carriger/a-woman-even-a-married-woman-cannot-float-without-proper-escort-it-is/) [Gail Carriger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-carriger/) > [A married woman, the safest place for any woman to be is at home with her husband.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-coulter/a-married-woman-the-safest-place-for-any-woman-to-be-is-at-home-with/) [Ann Coulter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-coulter/) > [A married woman has the same right to control her own body as does an unmarried woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-wachtler/a-married-woman-has-the-same-right-to-control-her-own-body-as-does-an/) [Sol Wachtler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-wachtler/) > [I was a married woman and I had a baby. 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I love my husband; I have a good life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gennifer-flowers/i-m-a-married-woman-i-love-my-husband-i-have-a-good-life/) [Gennifer Flowers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gennifer-flowers/) > [OMG, I am a married woman!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brooke-burns/omg-i-am-a-married-woman/) [Brooke Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brooke-burns/) > [Perhaps the greatest social service that can be rendered by anybody to the country and to mankind is to bring up a family. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/perhaps-the-greatest-social-service-that-can-be-rendered-by-anybody-2/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [ “Do not keep control over household affairs. The one who keeps control has to wander around. The unusable money \[torn notes, ruined coins\] are… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/do-not-keep-control-over-household-affairs-the-one-who-keeps-control/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) ## More by H. L. Mencken > [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/) > [A bad artist almost always tries to conceal his incompetence by whooping up a new formula.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/a-bad-artist-almost-always-tries-to-conceal-his-incompetence-by/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [ By profession a biologist, \[Thomas Henry Huxley\] covered in fact the whole field of the exact sciences, and then bulged through its four fences.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/by-profession-a-biologist-thomas-henry-huxley-covered-in-fact-the/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [So few men are really worth knowing, that it seems a shameful waste to let an anthropoid prejudice stand in the way of free…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/so-few-men-are-really-worth-knowing-that-it-seems-a-shameful-waste-to/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Man's objection to love is that it dies hard; woman's, that when it is dead, it stays dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/man-s-objection-to-love-is-that-it-dies-hard-woman-s-that-when-it-is/) [H. L. 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Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [The critic, to interpret his artist, even to understand his artist, must be able to get into the mind of his artist; he must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/the-critic-to-interpret-his-artist-even-to-understand-his-artist-must/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [There is, in fact, nothing about religious opinions that entitles them to any more respect than other opinions get. On the contrary, they tend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/there-is-in-fact-nothing-about-religious-opinions-that-entitles-them/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Don't overestimate the decency of the human race.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/don-t-overestimate-the-decency-of-the-human-race/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Liberty ... was a two-headed boon. There was first, the liberty of the people as a whole to determine the forms of their own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/liberty-was-a-two-headed-boon-there-was-first-the-liberty-of-the/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [To the extent that I am genuinely educated, I am suspicious of all the things that the average citizen believes and the average pedagogue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/to-the-extent-that-i-am-genuinely-educated-i-am-suspicious-of-all-the/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Philosophy first constructs a scheme of happiness and then tries to fit the world to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/philosophy-first-constructs-a-scheme-of-happiness-and-then-tries-to/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [For it is the natural tendency of the ignorant to believe what is not true. 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Prearranged surprises are rare and difficult because in order to plan one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-henri-jomini/the-surprise-of-an-army-is-now-next-to-an-impossibility-prearranged/) [Antoine-Henri Jomini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-henri-jomini/) > [“Never let your Enemies become your Advocates.” by A. K. Hasan”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-k-hasan/never-let-your-enemies-become-your-advocates-by-a-k-hasan/) A.K. Hasan > [The concept of humanity is an especially useful ideological instrument of imperialist expansion, and in its ethical-humanitarian form it is a specific vehicle of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-schmitt/the-concept-of-humanity-is-an-especially-useful-ideological/) [Carl Schmitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-schmitt/) > [Pain held no terror for him. Pain was, if not friend, then family, something he had grown up with in his crèche, learning to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paolo-bacigalupi/pain-held-no-terror-for-him-pain-was-if-not-friend-then-family/) [Paolo Bacigalupi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paolo-bacigalupi/) > [To achieve victory we must mass our forces at the hub of all power & movement. The enemy's 'Center of Gravity'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-achieve-victory-we-must-mass-our-forces-at-the-hub-of-all-power/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I don't see why we and the Chinese should have to be enemies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/indira-gandhi/i-don-t-see-why-we-and-the-chinese-should-have-to-be-enemies/) [Indira Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/indira-gandhi/) > [The invention of gunpowder and the constant improvement of firearms are enough in themselves to show that the advance of civilization has done nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-von-clausewitz/the-invention-of-gunpowder-and-the-constant-improvement-of-firearms/) [Carl von Clausewitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-von-clausewitz/) > [Perfection is the enemy of greatness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janelle-monae/perfection-is-the-enemy-of-greatness/) [Janelle Monae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janelle-monae/) > [In this business, you find the enemy, then go after and destroy him. 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