--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I was married once--in San Francisco. I…" description: "\"I was married once--in San Francisco. I haven't seen her for many years. The great earthquake and fire in 1906 destroyed the marriage certificate. Ther..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d13/w-c-fields-1625_certificates_i-was-married-once-in-san-francisco-i-ha_805683.png" --- # I was married once--in San Francisco. I haven't seen her… ![“I was married once--in San Francisco. I haven't seen her for many years. The great earthquake and fire in 1906 destroyed the marriage certificate. There's no legal proof. Which proves that earthquakes aren't all bad.” quote by W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d13/w-c-fields-1625_certificates_i-was-married-once-in-san-francisco-i-ha_805683.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d13/w-c-fields-1625_certificates_i-was-married-once-in-san-francisco-i-ha_805683.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d13/w-c-fields-1625_certificates_i-was-married-once-in-san-francisco-i-ha_805683.png) > “I was married once--in San Francisco. I haven't seen her for many years. The great earthquake and fire in 1906 destroyed the marriage certificate. There's no legal proof. Which proves that earthquakes aren't all bad.” [W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Loss of legal proof can free one from past ties, turning disaster into unexpected liberation. **In simple terms:** Earthquake erased marriage records, freeing him. Key Takeaway Find opportunity in chaos. Themes loss freedom disaster legalities Mood humorous philosophical Type literary satirical When to use this quote - marriage dissolution - natural disaster - legal loopholes Key Concepts bureaucracy unexpected benefit Questions to Reflect On - Can loss ever be a blessing? - What ties can you let go? A Different Perspective Legal documents may not define personal freedom; loss can be liberating. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fire/) [Funny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny/) [Marriage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marriage/) [San francisco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/san-francisco/) ## Related quotes > [It was a confirmation of a connection that already existed. 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We gave up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liane-moriarty/we-should-have-given-up-years-ago-it-s-so-clear-now-we-should-have/) [Liane Moriarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liane-moriarty/) > [All I know is it destroyed my family, it destroyed my marriage to Sylvester and I will never get over it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigitte-nielsen/all-i-know-is-it-destroyed-my-family-it-destroyed-my-marriage-to/) [Brigitte Nielsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigitte-nielsen/) > [What more degrades woman today than that she so often seeks marriage as a support? Why is the holy sacrament of love, the sanctity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-c-ames/what-more-degrades-woman-today-than-that-she-so-often-seeks-marriage/) [Mary C. Ames](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-c-ames/) > [I have never said that love is destroyed by marriage. How can marriage destroy love? 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In fact, I have posted on the Internet more than Obama has. My birth certificate actually has signatures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orly-taitz/now-i-have-something-in-fact-i-have-posted-on-the-internet-more-than/) Orly Taitz > [Bonds are guaranteed certificates of confiscation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-pick/bonds-are-guaranteed-certificates-of-confiscation/) Franz Pick > [He removed several pages of death certificates, which were picked up by another breeze and sent into the trees. Some would fall with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/he-removed-several-pages-of-death-certificates-which-were-picked-up/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) ## More by W. C. Fields > [Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house unless they have a well-stocked bar.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/thou-shalt-not-covet-thy-neighbor-s-house-unless-they-have-a-well/) [W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) > [Take me down to the bar! We'll drink breakfast together!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/take-me-down-to-the-bar-we-ll-drink-breakfast-together/) [W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) > [There comes a time in the affairs of man when he must take the bull by the tail and face the situation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/there-comes-a-time-in-the-affairs-of-man-when-he-must-take-the-bull/) [W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) > [If pigs had wings, they would be pigeons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/if-pigs-had-wings-they-would-be-pigeons/) [W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) > [I feel like a midget with muddy feet had been walking over my tongue all night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/i-feel-like-a-midget-with-muddy-feet-had-been-walking-over-my-tongue/) [W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) > [What would you do if you were President, and, on the first day of May, the Russian Ambassador presented you with a beautiful cake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/what-would-you-do-if-you-were-president-and-on-the-first-day-of-may/) [W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) > [My illness is due to my doctor's insistence that I drink milk, a whitish fluid they force down helpless babies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/my-illness-is-due-to-my-doctor-s-insistence-that-i-drink-milk-a/) [W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) > [I am an expert of electricity. My father occupied the chair of applied electricity at the state prison.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/i-am-an-expert-of-electricity-my-father-occupied-the-chair-of-applied/) [W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) > [Bert Williams was the funniest man I ever saw and the saddest man I ever knew.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/bert-williams-was-the-funniest-man-i-ever-saw-and-the-saddest-man-i/) [W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) > [A comic should suffer as much over a single line as a man with a hernia would in picking up a heavy barbell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/a-comic-should-suffer-as-much-over-a-single-line-as-a-man-with-a/) [W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) > [All my available funds are completely tied up in cash.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/all-my-available-funds-are-completely-tied-up-in-cash/) [W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) > [Back in my rummy days, I would tremble and shake for hours upon arising. It was the only exercise I got.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/back-in-my-rummy-days-i-would-tremble-and-shake-for-hours-upon/) [W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) > [Happiness means quiet nerves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/happiness-means-quiet-nerves/) [W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) > [W. C. Fields, a lifetime agnostic, was discovered reading a Bible on his deathbed. ''I'm looking for a loop-hole,'' he explained.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/w-c-fields-a-lifetime-agnostic-was-discovered-reading-a-bible-on-his/) [W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) > [The movie people would have nothing to do with me until they heard me speak in a Broadway play, then they all wanted to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/the-movie-people-would-have-nothing-to-do-with-me-until-they-heard-me/) [W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) [Explore all 221 W. C. Fields quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) ## More Certificates quotes > [He removed several pages of death certificates, which were picked up by another breeze and sent into the trees. Some would fall with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/he-removed-several-pages-of-death-certificates-which-were-picked-up/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [Bonds are guaranteed certificates of confiscation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-pick/bonds-are-guaranteed-certificates-of-confiscation/) Franz Pick > [Now I have something. In fact, I have posted on the Internet more than Obama has. My birth certificate actually has signatures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orly-taitz/now-i-have-something-in-fact-i-have-posted-on-the-internet-more-than/) Orly Taitz > [No birth certificate is issued when friendship is born. 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When it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-sanger/a-mutual-and-satisfied-sexual-act-is-of-great-benefit-to-the-average/) [Margaret Sanger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-sanger/) > [The only name on my birth certificate was Henley, no first name.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rickey-henderson/the-only-name-on-my-birth-certificate-was-henley-no-first-name/) [Rickey Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rickey-henderson/) > [People should be \_very\_ careful when choosing the future fathers and mothers of their children. For that reason alone, it is extremely mean to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-reich/people-should-be-very-careful-when-choosing-the-future-fathers-and/) [Wilhelm Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-reich/) > [Girls like Diana Spencer, armed with nothing more than a guinea-pig-rearing certificate, proud to say in that old Sloane way that she was 'as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-york/girls-like-diana-spencer-armed-with-nothing-more-than-a-guinea-pig/) [Peter York](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-york/) > [There is no country in which so absolute a homage is paid to wealth. In America there is a touch of shame when a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/there-is-no-country-in-which-so-absolute-a-homage-is-paid-to-wealth/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The world is deathly ill. It is dying. The Great Physician has already signed the death certificate. 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