--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When a man and a woman love one another…" description: "\"When a man and a woman love one another that is enough. That is marriage. A religious rite is superfluous. And if the man and woman live together witho..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e7/mary-maclane-10500_ceremony_when-a-man-and-a-woman-love-one-another_2583124.png" --- # When a man and a woman love one another that is enough… ![“When a man and a woman love one another that is enough. That is marriage. A religious rite is superfluous. And if the man and woman live together without the love, no ceremony in the world can make it a marriage.” quote by Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e7/mary-maclane-10500_ceremony_when-a-man-and-a-woman-love-one-another_2583124.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e7/mary-maclane-10500_ceremony_when-a-man-and-a-woman-love-one-another_2583124.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e7/mary-maclane-10500_ceremony_when-a-man-and-a-woman-love-one-another_2583124.png) > “When a man and a woman love one another that is enough. That is marriage. A religious rite is superfluous. And if the man and woman live together without the love, no ceremony in the world can make it a marriage.” [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. Love alone defines a marriage; rituals are unnecessary without genuine affection. **In simple terms:** Love is the core of marriage. Key Takeaway Prioritize love over ceremony. Themes love marriage authenticity Mood reflective critical Type philosophical advice When to use this quote - cohabitation - wedding planning - relationship counseling Key Concepts relationship theory social norms Questions to Reflect On - Can love exist without commitment? - What role do traditions play in relationships? A Different Perspective Legal or cultural pressures may still demand formalities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ceremony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ceremony/) [Enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enough/) [He man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/he-man/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Love Ceremony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-ceremony-1795024/) [Love marriage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-marriage/) [Love one another](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-one-another/) [Make Marriage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/make-marriage-281284/) [Man and woman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-and-woman/) [Man Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-love/) [Marriage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marriage/) [Marriage Religious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marriage-religious-1795023/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Men and women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men-and-women/) [Religious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religious/) [Rite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rite/) [Superfluous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/superfluous/) [Together](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/together/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [I don't know what it takes to make marriage work, but I'm going to keep trying until I get it right. I haven't given…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-mills/i-don-t-know-what-it-takes-to-make-marriage-work-but-i-m-going-to/) [Stephanie Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-mills/) > [“We can move to legalize same-gender civil marriage without harming any religious institution or dictating any change to the beliefs and practices of any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-robinson/we-can-move-to-legalize-same-gender-civil-marriage-without-harming/) [Gene Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-robinson/) > [Marriage is a religious and state issue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-demint/marriage-is-a-religious-and-state-issue/) [Jim DeMint](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-demint/) > [Marriage can be a religious thing. It can also be a secular thing. And guess what? Not everyone in the world is of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hank-green/marriage-can-be-a-religious-thing-it-can-also-be-a-secular-thing-and/) [Hank Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hank-green/) > [I believe that marriage has a spiritual foundation because only a man and a woman can create life, which is a gift from God.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carly-fiorina/i-believe-that-marriage-has-a-spiritual-foundation-because-only-a-man/) [Carly Fiorina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carly-fiorina/) > [“Too many couples enter marriage blinded by unrealistic expectations. They believe the relationship should be characterized by a high level of continuous romantic love.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-boehi/too-many-couples-enter-marriage-blinded-by-unrealistic-expectations/) [David Boehi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-boehi/) > [“Marriage isn't some magical thing. Putting the rings on and saying 'I do' doesn't make the marriage. It doesn't mean you'll love each other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasinda-wilder/marriage-isn-t-some-magical-thing-putting-the-rings-on-and-saying-i/) [Jasinda Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasinda-wilder/) > [“It takes two to make a marriage work and two to make it fall apart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-kingsbury/it-takes-two-to-make-a-marriage-work-and-two-to-make-it-fall-apart/) [Karen Kingsbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-kingsbury/) > [The kind of marriage you make depends upon the kind of person you are. If you are a happy, well-adjusted person, the chances are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-duvall/the-kind-of-marriage-you-make-depends-upon-the-kind-of-person-you-are/) [Evelyn Duvall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-duvall/) > [“Most women harbor dreams of a fairytale wedding and marriage. And while some do achieve it all, they are in the minority. For most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lori-colombo-dunham/most-women-harbor-dreams-of-a-fairytale-wedding-and-marriage-and/) [Lori Colombo-Dunham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lori-colombo-dunham/) > [True marriage begins well before the wedding day, And the efforts of marriage continue well beyond the ceremonys end. A brief moment in time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/true-marriage-begins-well-before-the-wedding-day-and-the-efforts-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There's no formula that can make a marriage work. Sometimes two people just click.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rishi-kapoor/there-s-no-formula-that-can-make-a-marriage-work-sometimes-two-people/) [Rishi Kapoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rishi-kapoor/) > [It takes two to make a marriage a success and only one to make it a failure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-takes-two-to-make-a-marriage-a-success-and-only-one-to-make-it-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The Mormons make the marriage ring, like the ring of Saturn, fluid, not solid, and keep it in its place by numerous satellites.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/the-mormons-make-the-marriage-ring-like-the-ring-of-saturn-fluid-not/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [“It's the daily patterns that make a marriage, the habits you fall into as a couple. These become a kind of background rhythm for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-a-harrison/it-s-the-daily-patterns-that-make-a-marriage-the-habits-you-fall-into/) [A.S.A. Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-a-harrison/) ## 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 would rather be a fairly happy wife and mother.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/i-would-rather-be-a-fairly-happy-wife-and-mother/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [I am not good. I am not virtuous. I am not sympathetic. I am not generous. I am merely and above all a creature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/i-am-not-good-i-am-not-virtuous-i-am-not-sympathetic-i-am-not/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [“And it is in New York I have those strangest things of all: human friendships. Not many friendships and not of spent familiarities: for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/and-it-is-in-new-york-i-have-those-strangest-things-of-all-human/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [I've never made plans for more than a day ahead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/i-ve-never-made-plans-for-more-than-a-day-ahead/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [“May I never, I say, become that abnormal, merciless animal, that deformed monstrosity— a virtuous woman. 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/) [Explore all 65 Mary MacLane quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) ## More Ceremony quotes > [We do not want nowadays temples of worship and outward rites and ceremonies. What we really want is an Asram. We want a place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/we-do-not-want-nowadays-temples-of-worship-and-outward-rites-and/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [Jesus never said a word about homosexuality. In all of his teachings about multiple things - he never said that gay people should be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-carter/jesus-never-said-a-word-about-homosexuality-in-all-of-his-teachings/) [Jimmy Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-carter/) > [It is merely the egoism of the man, who wants to bury a woman like a treasure. All attempts at using vows, contracts, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leopold-von-sacher-masoch/it-is-merely-the-egoism-of-the-man-who-wants-to-bury-a-woman-like-a/) [Leopold von Sacher-Masoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leopold-von-sacher-masoch/) > [Layla brought her arms around herself, no doubt because she was remembering the feel of another, stronger set. "I have wanted to, but he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-ward/layla-brought-her-arms-around-herself-no-doubt-because-she-was/) [J.R. Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-ward/) > [There are ceremonious bows that repel one like a cudgel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/there-are-ceremonious-bows-that-repel-one-like-a-cudgel/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [The cocktail party - as the name itself indicates - was originally invented by dogs. They are simply bottom-sniffings raised to the rank of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-durrell/the-cocktail-party-as-the-name-itself-indicates-was-originally/) [Lawrence Durrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-durrell/) > [I am unable to distinguish clearly between your religious ceremonies and apparently identical behavior at the sporting and cultural functions you have transmitted to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-c-clarke/i-am-unable-to-distinguish-clearly-between-your-religious-ceremonies/) [Arthur C. Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-c-clarke/) > [Politics resemble religion; attempting to divest either of ceremony is the most certain mode of bringing either into contempt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-goldsmith/politics-resemble-religion-attempting-to-divest-either-of-ceremony-is/) [Oliver Goldsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-goldsmith/) > [Singing at the Opening Ceremonies of the Sydney Olympics in 2000 was amazing and, probably the highlight of this decade is the opening of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-newton-john/singing-at-the-opening-ceremonies-of-the-sydney-olympics-in-2000-was/) [Olivia Newton-John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-newton-john/) > [Nostalgia is also a trait of the organizations that I call lodges - everything from corporate cultures to religious sects. Their bonding power often…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-james/nostalgia-is-also-a-trait-of-the-organizations-that-i-call-lodges/) [Jennifer James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-james/) > [Over the weekend, former Enron executives Jeffrey Skilling and Rebecca Carter married each other during a huge ceremony in Houston. The happy couple is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conan-o-brien/over-the-weekend-former-enron-executives-jeffrey-skilling-and-rebecca/) [Conan O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conan-o-brien/) > [“Japanese tea ceremony,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheryl-berk/japanese-tea-ceremony/) [Sheryl Berk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheryl-berk/) > [Truth and ceremony are two things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/truth-and-ceremony-are-two-things/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [The trappings of a religious cult tend to fall into candlelit ceremonies and robes and group chanting and singing and prayer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-durkin/the-trappings-of-a-religious-cult-tend-to-fall-into-candlelit/) [Sean Durkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-durkin/) > [No known human group... simply throw out its dead without any ritual or ceremony. In stark contrast, no animal practices burial of dead individuals…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodosius-dobzhansky/no-known-human-group-simply-throw-out-its-dead-without-any-ritual-or/) [Theodosius Dobzhansky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodosius-dobzhansky/) [Browse all 534 Ceremony quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ceremony/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When a man and a woman love one another that is enough. That is marriage. A religious rite is superfluous. 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