---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Times are changed with him who marries…"
description: "\"Times are changed with him who marries; there are no more by-path meadows, where you may innocently linger, but the road lies long and straight and dus..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3eb/robert-louis-stevenson-289_aspect_times-are-changed-with-him-who-marries-t_474562.jpg"
---

#  Times are changed with him who marries; there are no more…

![“Times are changed with him who marries; there are no more by-path meadows, where you may innocently linger, but the road lies long and straight and dusty to the grave. Idleness, which is often becoming and even wise in the bachelor, begins to wear a different aspect when you have a wife to support.” quote by Robert Louis Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3eb/robert-louis-stevenson-289_aspect_times-are-changed-with-him-who-marries-t_474562.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3eb/robert-louis-stevenson-289_aspect_times-are-changed-with-him-who-marries-t_474562.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3eb/robert-louis-stevenson-289_aspect_times-are-changed-with-him-who-marries-t_474562.jpg)

> “Times are changed with him who marries; there are no more by-path meadows, where you may innocently linger, but the road lies long and straight and dusty to the grave. Idleness, which is often becoming and even wise in the bachelor, begins to wear a different aspect when you have a wife to support.”

[Robert Louis Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-louis-stevenson/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Marriage transforms leisure into responsibility, turning idle freedom into a purposeful, often burdensome path toward life's end.

**In simple terms:** Marriage changes idle freedom into duty.

Key Takeaway

Accept responsibility with purpose.

Themes

marriage responsibility life death growth

Mood

reflective somber

Type

philosophical literary

When to use this quote

- family life
- career planning
- financial obligations
- personal growth

Key Concepts

social contract personal sacrifice mortality

Questions to Reflect On

- How does partnership alter your sense of duty?
- Can responsibility coexist with personal fulfillment?

A Different Perspective

The quote idealizes marriage as burdensome, ignoring mutual support and joy.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Bachelors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bachelors/) [Idleness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/idleness/) [Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying/) [Marriage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marriage/) [Path](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/path/) [Support](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/support/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Wife](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wife/) [Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wise/)

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[Conan O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conan-o-brien/)

> [“They say bachelors have all the fun. Not so. You just get old and full of sand, nasty.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/they-say-bachelors-have-all-the-fun-not-so-you-just-get-old-and-full/)

[Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/)

> [The Shades never recorded anything, Little Daddy and the Bachelors recorded a couple of records, ya.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tommy-chong/the-shades-never-recorded-anything-little-daddy-and-the-bachelors/)

[Tommy Chong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tommy-chong/)

> [Give women the vote, and in five years there will be a crushing tax on bachelors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/give-women-the-vote-and-in-five-years-there-will-be-a-crushing-tax-on/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [It is impossible to believe that the same God who permitted His own son to die a bachelor regards celibacy as an actual sin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/it-is-impossible-to-believe-that-the-same-god-who-permitted-his-own/)

[H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/)

> [Though bachelors be the strongest stakes, married men are the best binders, in the hedge of the commonwealth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-fuller/though-bachelors-be-the-strongest-stakes-married-men-are-the-best/)

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> [There is no character in the comedy of human life more difficult to play well than that of an old bachelor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/there-is-no-character-in-the-comedy-of-human-life-more-difficult-to/)

[Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/)

> [A married man is a man with a past, while a bachelor is a man with a future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/a-married-man-is-a-man-with-a-past-while-a-bachelor-is-a-man-with-a/)

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> [Why is it that at a bachelor's establishment the servants invariably drink the champagne.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/why-is-it-that-at-a-bachelor-s-establishment-the-servants-invariably/)

[Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/)

> [Bachelors should be heavily taxed. It is not fair that some men should be happier than others](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/bachelors-should-be-heavily-taxed-it-is-not-fair-that-some-men-should/)

[Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/)

## More by Robert Louis Stevenson

> [You must suffer me to go my own dark way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-louis-stevenson/you-must-suffer-me-to-go-my-own-dark-way/)

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> [The little rift between the sexes is astonishingly widened by simply teaching one set of catchwords to the girls and another to the boys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-louis-stevenson/the-little-rift-between-the-sexes-is-astonishingly-widened-by-simply/)

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[Explore all 701 Robert Louis Stevenson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-louis-stevenson/)

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