Marriage Advice

Three of my closest friends are getting married this summer and fall. To women, not to each other in some three-headed male marriage beast. When Sally and I were about to wed, I remember getting some good advice from one of my old convent roommates, Dan Cardile. Remind me to tell the story about the convent sometime. Anyway, Dan's advice for marriage: do not answer the phone during the first two years of marriage (if you and your wife are together in the house). We didn't follow it, but I like it.

During a taxi ride home a few weeks before the wedding, I got some advice from the driver. He mentioned his wife in passing, and I asked him how long he had been married. “Thirty-five years,” the man replied in a dramatically cadenced accent, tempered by many years away from home. I told him that I was to be married in a month and a half. He spent the rest of the trip giving me advice. The main points were as follows:

1. Love is understanding;
2. Do not disagree with your wife unless you are absolutely sure of your point of view;
3. Never argue in front of other people;
4. Limit yourself to five close friends that you depend on. No more, no less;
5. Do not spank your children.

I like collecting these pieces of marriage advice. Any additions?