--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Marriage is like democracy - it doesn't…" description: "\"Marriage is like democracy - it doesn't really work, but it's all we've been able to come up with.\" — Shirley Hazzard" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d4/shirley-hazzard-9123_able_marriage-is-like-democracy-it-doesn-t-re_336454.jpg" --- # Marriage is like democracy - it doesn't really work, but… ![“Marriage is like democracy - it doesn't really work, but it's all we've been able to come up with.” quote by Shirley Hazzard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d4/shirley-hazzard-9123_able_marriage-is-like-democracy-it-doesn-t-re_336454.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d4/shirley-hazzard-9123_able_marriage-is-like-democracy-it-doesn-t-re_336454.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d4/shirley-hazzard-9123_able_marriage-is-like-democracy-it-doesn-t-re_336454.jpg) > “Marriage is like democracy - it doesn't really work, but it's all we've been able to come up with.” [Shirley Hazzard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-hazzard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Marriage resembles democracy: imperfect but the best system we have. **In simple terms:** Marriage is flawed but our best option. Key Takeaway Accept imperfection, work together. Themes marriage democracy imperfection cooperation Mood thoughtful analytical Type philosophical humorous When to use this quote - married life - political discussion - relationship counseling Key Concepts political theory relationships social contract Questions to Reflect On - What makes marriage work despite flaws? - Can democracy improve marriage? A Different Perspective Idealistic models may ignore practical realities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Able](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/able/) [Come up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/come-up/) [Democracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democracy/) [Democracy Doesn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democracy-doesn-593902/) [Doesn Really](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doesn-really-532174/) [Like Democracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-democracy-629033/) [Marriage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marriage/) [Marriage Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marriage-like/) ## Related quotes > [Everything sells. Like integrity. Like democracy. Like truth. 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In this respect, as in many others, it's like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/science-is-far-from-a-perfect-instrument-of-knowledge-it-s-just-the/) [carl sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) ## More by Shirley Hazzard > [It's nervous work. The state you need to write in is the state that others are paying large sums of money to get rid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-hazzard/it-s-nervous-work-the-state-you-need-to-write-in-is-the-state-that/) [Shirley Hazzard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-hazzard/) > [I wasn't convinced a shop girl would know the word 'Oedipal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-hazzard/i-wasn-t-convinced-a-shop-girl-would-know-the-word-oedipal/) [Shirley Hazzard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-hazzard/) > [Great literature is like moral leadership; everyone deplores the lack of it, but there is a tendency to prefer it from the safely dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-hazzard/great-literature-is-like-moral-leadership-everyone-deplores-the-lack/) [Shirley Hazzard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-hazzard/) > [When people say of their tragedies, 'I don't often think of it now,' what they mean is it has entered permanently into their thoughts,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-hazzard/when-people-say-of-their-tragedies-i-don-t-often-think-of-it-now-what/) [Shirley Hazzard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-hazzard/) > [“But that's a way to go on loving--a place, or a person. 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That contributes to the impression that someone, somewhere,knows the whole thing." \[p. 38\]” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-hazzard/i-said-some-people-do-know-more-than-others-that-contributes-to-the/) [Shirley Hazzard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-hazzard/) > [“Dark had meant Dora, had meant words and events sordid with self. Struggling to the light from Dora's darkness, Caro had acquired conscience and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-hazzard/dark-had-meant-dora-had-meant-words-and-events-sordid-with-self/) [Shirley Hazzard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-hazzard/) > [“Sometimes, as now, her heart twisted and broke under his determination to wound her. At others, she was almost convinced that she felt nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-hazzard/sometimes-as-now-her-heart-twisted-and-broke-under-his-determination/) [Shirley Hazzard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-hazzard/) > [“Chief Coordinator of DALTO – the Department of Aid to the Less technically Oriented, working to induce backwards nations to come forwards.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-hazzard/chief-coordinator-of-dalto-the-department-of-aid-to-the-less/) [Shirley Hazzard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-hazzard/) > [“Occasion revived an illusion of discovery, as if one woke in a strange room to wonder afresh not only where but who one was;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-hazzard/occasion-revived-an-illusion-of-discovery-as-if-one-woke-in-a-strange/) [Shirley Hazzard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-hazzard/) > [When you realize someone is trying to hurt you, it hurts less." "Unless you love them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-hazzard/when-you-realize-someone-is-trying-to-hurt-you-it-hurts-less-unless/) [Shirley Hazzard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-hazzard/) > [Since the moment of the United Nations' inception, untold energies have been expended by governments not only toward the exclusion of persons of principle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-hazzard/since-the-moment-of-the-united-nations-inception-untold-energies-have/) [Shirley Hazzard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-hazzard/) > [The United Nations emerged as a temple of official good intentions, a place where governments might - without abating their transgressions - go to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-hazzard/the-united-nations-emerged-as-a-temple-of-official-good-intentions-a/) [Shirley Hazzard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-hazzard/) [Explore all 75 Shirley Hazzard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-hazzard/) ## More Able quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [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/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. 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