--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Marriage must incessantly contend with a…" description: "\"Marriage must incessantly contend with a monster that devours everything: familiarity.\" — Honore de Balzac" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d64/honor-de-balzac-197_familiarity_marriage-must-incessantly-contend-with-a_1719632.png" --- # Marriage must incessantly contend with a monster that… ![“Marriage must incessantly contend with a monster that devours everything: familiarity.” quote by Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d64/honor-de-balzac-197_familiarity_marriage-must-incessantly-contend-with-a_1719632.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d64/honor-de-balzac-197_familiarity_marriage-must-incessantly-contend-with-a_1719632.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d64/honor-de-balzac-197_familiarity_marriage-must-incessantly-contend-with-a_1719632.png) > “Marriage must incessantly contend with a monster that devours everything: familiarity.” [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Familiarity erodes the excitement and mystery in marriage, turning partners into strangers to each other. **In simple terms:** Familiarity dulls marriage. Key Takeaway Cultivate novelty and appreciation. Themes marriage familiarity relationships Mood reflective introspective Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - long‑term marriage - anniversary celebrations - relationship counseling Key Concepts psychology intimacy habituation Questions to Reflect On - How can couples keep curiosity alive? - What habits reinforce familiarity? A Different Perspective Overcoming familiarity requires conscious effort, not just time. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Marriage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marriage/) ## Related quotes > [A monster which devours everything - that is familiarity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/a-monster-which-devours-everything-that-is-familiarity/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [Many of us marvel at the icy insensitivity with which women snuff out their armours. But if they did not blot out the past…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/many-of-us-marvel-at-the-icy-insensitivity-with-which-women-snuff-out/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [No wonder men got impervious to superficial pain, I thought. It came from this habit of hammering each other incessantly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-gabaldon/no-wonder-men-got-impervious-to-superficial-pain-i-thought-it-came/) [Diana Gabaldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-gabaldon/) > [All things are flowing, even those that seem immovable. The adamant is always passing into smoke. The plants imbibe the materialswhich they want from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/all-things-are-flowing-even-those-that-seem-immovable-the-adamant-is/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Habit is necessary. It is the habit of having habits, of turning a trail into a rut, that must be incessantly fought against if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/habit-is-necessary-it-is-the-habit-of-having-habits-of-turning-a/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [Over the years, I've found that I either live life or write about it. I can't seem to do both simultaneously - I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/letty-cottin-pogrebin/over-the-years-i-ve-found-that-i-either-live-life-or-write-about-it-i/) [Letty Cottin Pogrebin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/letty-cottin-pogrebin/) > [Name me any liquid except our own blood that flows more intimately and incessantly through the labyrinth of symbols we have conceived to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifton-fadiman/name-me-any-liquid-except-our-own-blood-that-flows-more-intimately/) [Clifton Fadiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifton-fadiman/) > [Judenhass is endlessly disturbing, often unpleasant and incessantly horrifying in its stark coldness. The quotes should never be forgotten or made light of. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marv-wolfman/judenhass-is-endlessly-disturbing-often-unpleasant-and-incessantly/) [Marv Wolfman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marv-wolfman/) > [God alone is satisfied with what He is and can proclaim: "I am what I am." Unlike God, man strives with all his might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/god-alone-is-satisfied-with-what-he-is-and-can-proclaim-i-am-what-i/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [The good thing about Pittsburgh, it's a good place to be raised... it doesn't tolerate assholes. You're either a good guy or you're a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-miller/the-good-thing-about-pittsburgh-it-s-a-good-place-to-be-raised-it/) [Dennis Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-miller/) > [The creation continues incessantly through the media of man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-creation-continues-incessantly-through-the-media-of-man/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I had bought two male chimps from a primate colony in Holland. They lived next to each other in separate cages for several months…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christiaan-barnard/i-had-bought-two-male-chimps-from-a-primate-colony-in-holland-they/) [Christiaan Barnard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christiaan-barnard/) > [Love clamors far more incessantly and passionately at a closed gate than an open one!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-corelli/love-clamors-far-more-incessantly-and-passionately-at-a-closed-gate/) [Marie Corelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-corelli/) > [Do what you know you ought to do. Why should we ever go abroad, even across the way, to ask a neighbor's advice? There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/do-what-you-know-you-ought-to-do-why-should-we-ever-go-abroad-even/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [If you want to know how to make people shun you and laugh at you behind your back and even despise you, here is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-carnegie/if-you-want-to-know-how-to-make-people-shun-you-and-laugh-at-you/) [Dale Carnegie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-carnegie/) ## More by Honore de Balzac > [“Oh, my friend, when you love, love a woman whom you are sure that you can love always. Never forsake a woman.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/oh-my-friend-when-you-love-love-a-woman-whom-you-are-sure-that-you/) [Honoré de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [“You have broken the ice, though you have not even scratched its glossy surface: you have placed your hand upon the croup of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/you-have-broken-the-ice-though-you-have-not-even-scratched-its-glossy/) [Honoré de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [In a world of hunchbacks, a fine figure becomes a monstrosity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/in-a-world-of-hunchbacks-a-fine-figure-becomes-a-monstrosity/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [It is quite right what they say: the three most beautiful sights in the world are a ship in full sail, a galloping horse,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/it-is-quite-right-what-they-say-the-three-most-beautiful-sights-in/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [My writing table has seen all my wretchedness, knows all my plans, has overheard all my thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/my-writing-table-has-seen-all-my-wretchedness-knows-all-my-plans-has/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [Foppery, being the chronic condition of women, is not so much noticed as it is when it breaks out on the person of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/foppery-being-the-chronic-condition-of-women-is-not-so-much-noticed/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [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/) > [Rich men are resolved to be astonished at nothing. When they see a masterpiece, they must needs at one glance recognize some flaw to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/rich-men-are-resolved-to-be-astonished-at-nothing-when-they-see-a/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [I am a galley slave to pen and ink.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/i-am-a-galley-slave-to-pen-and-ink/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [One can imagine the look the two lovers exchanged; it was like a flame, for virtuous lovers have not a shred of hypocrisy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/one-can-imagine-the-look-the-two-lovers-exchanged-it-was-like-a-flame/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [White and shining virgin of all human virtues, ark of the covenant between earth and heaven, tender and strong companion partaking of the lion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/white-and-shining-virgin-of-all-human-virtues-ark-of-the-covenant/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [All men can bear a familiar, definite misfortune better than the cruel alternations of a fate which, from one moment to another, brings excessive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/all-men-can-bear-a-familiar-definite-misfortune-better-than-the-cruel/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [The mind, too, has its regimen. It needs gymnastics, just like the body does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/the-mind-too-has-its-regimen-it-needs-gymnastics-just-like-the-body/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [Hatred like love feeds on the merest trifles. Everything adds to it. Just as the being we love can do no wrong, so the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/hatred-like-love-feeds-on-the-merest-trifles-everything-adds-to-it/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [All human power is a compound of time and patience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/all-human-power-is-a-compound-of-time-and-patience/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) [Explore all 793 Honore de Balzac quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) ## More Familiarity quotes > [Too much familiarity breeds contempt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/too-much-familiarity-breeds-contempt/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [Part of the advantage, and part of the result of trying to be a producer and director, are the practical things, you find. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/campbell-scott/part-of-the-advantage-and-part-of-the-result-of-trying-to-be-a/) [Campbell Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/campbell-scott/) > [You have to know that you have to have familiarity with the artist that you want to be, but there's so much about it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-barbaro/you-have-to-know-that-you-have-to-have-familiarity-with-the-artist/) [Monica Barbaro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-barbaro/) > [I'm sure there are a lot of Italians who refer to themselves as goombahs and greaseballs and whatever. That's what people do. It gives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-l-jackson/i-m-sure-there-are-a-lot-of-italians-who-refer-to-themselves-as/) [Samuel L. Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-l-jackson/) > [“And when I look into his eyes there’s a feeling of something I can only describe as familiarity, a sense of safety. Like coming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-james/and-when-i-look-into-his-eyes-there-s-a-feeling-of-something-i-can/) [Rebecca James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-james/) > [My familiarity with the successful use of very long steel ropes for mining purposes naturally suggested their adaptation to the new purpose of deep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-agassiz/my-familiarity-with-the-successful-use-of-very-long-steel-ropes-for/) Alexander Agassiz > [Vulgar and inactive minds confound familiarity with knowledge, and conceive themselves informed of the whole nature of things, when they are shown their form…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/vulgar-and-inactive-minds-confound-familiarity-with-knowledge-and/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [It is familiarity with life that makes time speed quickly. When every day is a step in the unknown, as for children, the days…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-gissing/it-is-familiarity-with-life-that-makes-time-speed-quickly-when-every/) [George Gissing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-gissing/) > [When the writing is good, a book becomes a mirror. The reader will see an uncanny familiarity and respond accordingly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jen-knox/when-the-writing-is-good-a-book-becomes-a-mirror-the-reader-will-see/) Jen Knox > [Today the greatest single deterrent to knowledge of Jesus is His familiarity. Because we think we know Him, we pass Him by.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-kirkland/today-the-greatest-single-deterrent-to-knowledge-of-jesus-is-his/) Winifred Kirkland > [When you've worked in the same place for 13 years, when things go well, you know how to keep it going well. When things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-stevens/when-you-ve-worked-in-the-same-place-for-13-years-when-things-go-well/) [Brad Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-stevens/) > [The hues of the opal, the light of the diamond, are not to be seen if the eye is too near.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-hues-of-the-opal-the-light-of-the-diamond-are-not-to-be-seen-if/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [All, all are gone, the old familiar faces.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/all-all-are-gone-the-old-familiar-faces/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Familiarity breeds contempt only when it breeds inattention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/familiarity-breeds-contempt-only-when-it-breeds-inattention/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [But while ignorance can make you insensitive, familiarity can also numb. Entering the second half-century of an information age, our cumulative knowledge has changed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/but-while-ignorance-can-make-you-insensitive-familiarity-can-also/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) Browse all 454 Familiarity quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Marriage must incessantly contend with a monster that devours everything: familiarity.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Honore de Balzac" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/marriage-must-incessantly-contend-with-a-monster-that-devours/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Familiarity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/marriage-must-incessantly-contend-with-a-monster-that-devours/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d64/honor-de-balzac-197_familiarity_marriage-must-incessantly-contend-with-a_1719632.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d64/honor-de-balzac-197_familiarity_marriage-must-incessantly-contend-with-a_1719632.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d64/honor-de-balzac-197_familiarity_marriage-must-incessantly-contend-with-a_1719632.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Marriage must incessantly contend with a monster that devours everything: familiarity.” — Honore de Balzac", "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": "Honore de Balzac", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Marriage must incessantly contend with a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/marriage-must-incessantly-contend-with-a-monster-that-devours/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/marriage-must-incessantly-contend-with-a-monster-that-devours/#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 } } ] } ```