"I am somewhat better with words than my wife is; she is infinitely better with people. In different ways, we translate each other to the rest of the world and admire each other’s contrasting language skills. Being married to someone you respect for being somehow better than you keeps affection alive. That this impressive person chooses you year after year makes you more pleased with yourself, fueling the kind of mutual self-esteem that can get you through decades."

I can't even take how perfectly he put it! As I read it, I thought -- that's it. That's really, really it. Here's another:

"Being single is all about the future, about the person you’re going to meet at Starbucks or after answering the next scientific compatibility questionnaire. Being married, after a certain point, is about the past, about a steadily growing history of moments that provide a confidence of comfort, an asset that compounds over time."

I agree with him, but I'd take it a step further and say a happy, rich marriage is also all about the present. I say this because I am, by nature, a future addict. It's my nature to forsake everything in order to work really hard now, so that I can one day, in the magical, mystical future, enjoy the fruits. But to have a good marriage I have to focus on what is happening now, and create the life we really want today. That means giving my husband attention NOW, giving our house attention NOW, giving my close friends attention NOW, and doing those rainy-day things that I love NOW -- not someday when I slow down a little.

Quick: Give me your single best tip for sustaining a good marriage.