--- description: Find out the seven habits that happily married couples share, according to The Marriage Book. title: 7 Habits of Happily Married Couples image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0c931b1ccff9d8af/6988cf240a4a2200b39ce5ba/tips-happy-marriage.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [motto](/tag/motto/) ## motto Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 7 Habits of Happily Married Couples (27 May 2017) by [Real Simple](/author/real-simple/) ## Real Simple Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 27, 2017 12:00 PM CUT  1464030 1464030Digital Vision.—Getty Images by [Real Simple](/author/real-simple/) ## Real Simple Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 27, 2017 12:00 PM CUT Saying “I do” is the easy part. Here, inspiring advice and thoughts about what makes a happy couple tick, excerpted from [_The Marriage Book_](https://aax-us-east.amazon-adsystem.com/x/c/QmrqWxqGfoFyNeXQ3n3gR2UAAAFcRWK4FwEAAAFKAUWp2x0/http://www.amazon.com/The-Marriage-Book-Inspiration-Cautionary/dp/1439169659/ref=as%5Fat?creativeASIN=1439169659&linkCode=w50&tag=REASIM03-20&imprToken=IHKAx5dWgEa3IdSIwEX3YA&slotNum=0 "undefined"), edited by (husband and wife, of course) Lisa Grunwald and Stephen Adler. ## **_1\. They’re grateful_** **WINSTON CHURCHILL LETTER TO CLEMENTINE CHURCHILL, 1948** _Churchill wrote this on the couple’s fortieth anniversary._ My Beloved, I send this token, but how little can it express my gratitude to you for making my life & any work I have done possible, and for giving me so much happiness in a world of accident & storm. Your ever loving and devoted husband W ## **_2\. They forgive and forget_** **OGDEN NASH “A WORD TO HUSBANDS,” 1931** _OgdenNash (1902–1971) was not always this economical in his verse, but was frequently this blunt._ To keep your marriage brimming, With love in the loving cup, Whenever you’re wrong, admit it; Whenever you’re right, shut up. **_Read More:_** [**_The Kitchen Garbage Can That Saved My Marriage_**](https://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/tools-products/kitchen-garbage-can "undefined") ## **_3\. They’re each other’s cheerleader_** **HENRY NEUMANN MODERN YOUTH AND MARRIAGE, 1928** _Henry Neumann (1882–1966) was a leader of the Society for Ethical Culture, a movement founded in 1876 by Felix Adler on the principle that ethics are independent of theology._ Disillusion, of course, enters in time. There are no full-grown perfect beings. Sooner or later the frailties are recognized. But there is in most people a better self which the fallible self hides; and the greatest privilege of the married life is to be the one who assists the other more and more to do justice to that better possibility. ## **_4\. They’re realistic_** **H. L. MENCKEN A BOOK OF BURLESQUES, 1916** Strike an average between what a woman thinks of her husband a month before she marries him and what she thinks of him a year afterward, and you will have the truth about him in a very handy form. **_Read More:_** [**_The World’s Best Advice for a Happy Marriage_**](https://www.realsimple.com/work-life/family/relationships/best-marriage-advice "undefined") ## **_5\. They have complete trust in one another_** **ELBERT HUBBARD LOVE, LIFE & WORK, 1906** There are six requisites in every happy marriage; the first is Faith and the remaining five are Confidence. ## 6\. **_They accept each other’s differences_** **SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE TABLE TALK, 1824** You may depend upon it, that a slight contrast of character is very material to happiness in marriage. **_Read More:_** [**_7 Secrets to Making Your Marriage Work_**](https://www.realsimple.com/seven-principles-to-making-marriage-work-gottman "undefined") ## **_7\. They know marriage is a work in progress_** **MARK TWAIN NOTEBOOK, 1894** _Samuel Clemens had been married twenty-four years when he wrote this in his notebook._ Love seems the swiftest, but is the slowest of all growths. No man or woman really knows what perfect love is until they have been married a quarter of a century. _From THE MARRIAGE BOOK edited by Lisa Grunwald and Stephen Adler. Copyright © by Lisa Grunwald and Stephen J. Adler. Reprinted by permission of Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved._ This [article](https://www.realsimple.com/work-life/family/relationships/happy-marriage-quotes "undefined") originally appeared on RealSimple.com ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4795950/habits-happily-married-couples/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4795950/habits-happily-married-couples/"},"headline":"7 Habits of Happily Married Couples (27 May 2017)","datePublished":"2017-05-27T12:00:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:05:41.035Z","description":"They know marriage is work","url":"https://time.com/4795950/habits-happily-married-couples/","keywords":["motto","Marriage","relationships","Love"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0c931b1ccff9d8af/6988cf240a4a2200b39ce5ba/tips-happy-marriage.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Real Simple","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/real-simple/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0c931b1ccff9d8af/6988cf240a4a2200b39ce5ba/tips-happy-marriage.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Newlywed Couple Dance Face-to-Face at the Waters Edge on a Beach","caption":"Newlywed Couple Dance Face-to-Face at the Waters Edge on a Beach","creditText":"Digital Vision.—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4795950/habits-happily-married-couples/","name":"7 Habits of Happily Married Couples (27 May 2017)"}}]}] ```