--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I would rather be a fairly happy wife and…" description: "\"I would rather be a fairly happy wife and mother.\" — Mary MacLane" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02a/mary-maclane-10500_happiness_i-would-rather-be-a-fairly-happy-wife-an_256604.png" --- # I would rather be a fairly happy wife and mother. ![“I would rather be a fairly happy wife and mother.” quote by Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02a/mary-maclane-10500_happiness_i-would-rather-be-a-fairly-happy-wife-an_256604.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02a/mary-maclane-10500_happiness_i-would-rather-be-a-fairly-happy-wife-an_256604.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02a/mary-maclane-10500_happiness_i-would-rather-be-a-fairly-happy-wife-an_256604.png) > “I would rather be a fairly happy wife and mother.” [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She values personal happiness and family over societal expectations of success. **In simple terms:** Choose happiness and family. Key Takeaway Prioritize love and contentment. Themes family happiness personal fulfillment Mood reflective warm Type personal essay inspirational When to use this quote - marriage - parenting - career choices - social expectations Key Concepts feminism self-determination Questions to Reflect On - What does happiness mean to you? - How do you balance personal goals with family? A Different Perspective May overlook personal ambitions beyond family. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Happy wife](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happy-wife/) [Marriage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marriage/) [Mother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mother/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Wife](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wife/) [Wife And Mother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wife-and-mother/) [Wives and mothers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wives-and-mothers/) ## Related quotes > [I am a historian. With the exception of being a wife and mother, it is who I am. 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It's very reclusive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tori-amos/i-m-not-very-social-when-i-m-off-the-promo-trail-because-i-step-into/) [Tori Amos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tori-amos/) > [When society is rightly organized, the wife and mother will have time, wish and will to grow intellectually, and will know that the limits…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-b-anthony/when-society-is-rightly-organized-the-wife-and-mother-will-have-time/) [Susan B. 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I guess I'll know Mr. Right when I meet him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcia-cross/i-d-like-to-be-a-wife-and-mother-i-guess-i-ll-know-mr-right-when-i/) [Marcia Cross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcia-cross/) > [Now, I am thrilled to be a wife and mother, and I hope to be as good of a mother as my own mother,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristi-yamaguchi/now-i-am-thrilled-to-be-a-wife-and-mother-and-i-hope-to-be-as-good-of/) [Kristi Yamaguchi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristi-yamaguchi/) > [... a business career for a woman and her need for a woman's life as wife and mother, are not enemies at all, unless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hortense-odlum/a-business-career-for-a-woman-and-her-need-for-a-woman-s-life-as-wife/) [Hortense Odlum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hortense-odlum/) > [Above the titles of wife and mother, which, although dear, are transitory and accidental, there is the title human being, which precedes and out-ranks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-livermore/above-the-titles-of-wife-and-mother-which-although-dear-are/) Mary Livermore > [Without religion, man is an atheist, woman is a monster. As daughter, sister, wife and mother, she holds in her hands, under God, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-benjamin-whipple/without-religion-man-is-an-atheist-woman-is-a-monster-as-daughter/) Henry Benjamin Whipple ## More by Mary MacLane > [I want fame more than I can tell. But more than I want fame I want happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/i-want-fame-more-than-i-can-tell-but-more-than-i-want-fame-i-want/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [Fame is indeed beautiful and benign and gentle and satisfying, but happiness is something at once tender and brilliant beyond all things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/fame-is-indeed-beautiful-and-benign-and-gentle-and-satisfying-but/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [“I Don’t Know whether lust is a human coarseness or a human fineness: I don’t know why death holds a so sweet lure since…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/i-don-t-know-whether-lust-is-a-human-coarseness-or-a-human-fineness-i/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [Are there many things in this cool-hearted world so utterly exquisite as the pure love of one woman for another woman?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/are-there-many-things-in-this-cool-hearted-world-so-utterly-exquisite/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [“It is of the dubious inevitable side of human nature—like gold teeth and tinned salmon and bastard lacy valentines”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/it-is-of-the-dubious-inevitable-side-of-human-nature-like-gold-teeth/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [I am not good. 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Anything, Devil, but that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/may-i-never-i-say-become-that-abnormal-merciless-animal-that-deformed/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [I am lithe, but fragile from constant involuntary self-analysis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/i-am-lithe-but-fragile-from-constant-involuntary-self-analysis/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [Genius of a kind has always been with me; an empty heart that has taken on a certain wooden quality; an excellent, strong woman's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/genius-of-a-kind-has-always-been-with-me-an-empty-heart-that-has/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [at this point I meet Me face to face. I am Mary MacLane: of no importance to the wide bright world and dearly and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/at-this-point-i-meet-me-face-to-face-i-am-mary-maclane-of-no/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [Just why I sent it to the publishers would be hard to say, but when I had finished it I felt that it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/just-why-i-sent-it-to-the-publishers-would-be-hard-to-say-but-when-i/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [The highest thing one can do in literature is to succeed in saying that thing which one meant to say. There is nothing better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/the-highest-thing-one-can-do-in-literature-is-to-succeed-in-saying/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [I want to live quietly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/i-want-to-live-quietly/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) [Explore all 65 Mary MacLane quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) ## More Happiness quotes > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Remember that your natural state is joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/remember-that-your-natural-state-is-joy/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [Balance suggests a perfect equilibrium. There is no such thing. That is a false expectation… There are going to be priorities and dimensions of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-morrison/balance-suggests-a-perfect-equilibrium-there-is-no-such-thing-that-is/) [Denise Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-morrison/) > [“WE CAN'T ALWAYS CONTROL OUR CIRCUMSTANCES BUT WE CAN CONTROL OUR ATTITUDE. WE MUST BE MORE CONCERNED WITH WHAT WE DO WITH WHAT HAPPENS…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-j-ashton/we-can-t-always-control-our-circumstances-but-we-can-control-our/) [MARVIN J. ASHTON](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marvin-j-ashton/) > [I can skate beautifully. While performing on ice I always try to please the audience and to win as well. Being artistic is very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evgeni-plushenko/i-can-skate-beautifully-while-performing-on-ice-i-always-try-to/) [Evgeni Plushenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evgeni-plushenko/) > [Sometimes we wish for the feel but we never understand that we have to give a lot to get the feel !](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reynolds/sometimes-we-wish-for-the-feel-but-we-never-understand-that-we-have/) [Robert Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reynolds/) > [Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sing-like-no-one-s-listening-love-like-you-ve-never-been-hurt-dance/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“It was beautiful. He thought he had never seen anything so beautiful in all his life; that, having seen it, he could die content,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/it-was-beautiful-he-thought-he-had-never-seen-anything-so-beautiful/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [The happy have whole days,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colley-cibber/the-happy-have-whole-days/) [Colley Cibber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colley-cibber/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [I've got nothing to do today but smile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-ve-got-nothing-to-do-today-but-smile/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Her dignity consists in being unknown to the world; her glory is in the esteem of her husband; her pleasures in the happiness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/her-dignity-consists-in-being-unknown-to-the-world-her-glory-is-in/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [The size of a man's understanding might always be justly measured by his mirth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-size-of-a-man-s-understanding-might-always-be-justly-measured-by/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Positive thinking evokes more energy, more initiative, more happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/positive-thinking-evokes-more-energy-more-initiative-more-happiness/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When you have a choice, choose happy!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pancho-barnes/when-you-have-a-choice-choose-happy/) Pancho Barnes [Browse all 40,288 Happiness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I would rather be a fairly happy wife and mother.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mary MacLane" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/i-would-rather-be-a-fairly-happy-wife-and-mother/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Happiness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/i-would-rather-be-a-fairly-happy-wife-and-mother/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02a/mary-maclane-10500_happiness_i-would-rather-be-a-fairly-happy-wife-an_256604.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02a/mary-maclane-10500_happiness_i-would-rather-be-a-fairly-happy-wife-an_256604.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02a/mary-maclane-10500_happiness_i-would-rather-be-a-fairly-happy-wife-an_256604.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I would rather be a fairly happy wife and mother.” — Mary MacLane", "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": "Mary MacLane", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I would rather be a fairly...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/i-would-rather-be-a-fairly-happy-wife-and-mother/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/i-would-rather-be-a-fairly-happy-wife-and-mother/#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 } } ] } ```