LIFE COMPANIONSHIP 



marital felicity. For though you have eyes for only one 

 to-day, there is always danger that a second may come 

 within your ken to-morrow. One of the sternest facts 

 that our existing marriage-system has to face, is the fact 

 that man is not by nature a monogamous animal. 

 It is the greatest triumph of mind over body that he 

 has become so nearly monogamous in practise. 



Let the universal experience of mankind suffice, 

 then, to lead you to the belief that, however fervid 

 your admiration for any particular individual of the 

 opposite sex, there are countless others to whom you 

 might be just as ardently attracted, did chance throw 

 them in your way. The avowal of this belief would not 

 gain you additional favor in the eyes of your sweet- 

 heart, I am aware; but its unavowed recognition may 

 serve as a safety valve to your ardor and a balance wheel 

 to your judgment. It may aid you, in a measure, to 

 escape the dangerous thraldom of mere physical 

 charms, and to consider the deeper qualities of heart 

 and mind that are not always linked with these super- 

 ficial adornments. Beauty is more than skin deep, 

 but the eye of passion tends to linger at the surface. 



Or, on the other hand, it may aid you in a sane 

 attempt to reckon with undesirable physical traits, 

 such as hereditary disease and the like, and to weigh 

 these calmly against the desirable traits of mind with 

 which their victim may be endowed. In a word, 

 the calmer the judgment brought to bear on the selection 

 of a life companion, the purer and more lasting is 

 likely to be the affection that married life will accentuate 

 and develop. And assuredly it will not be denied that 

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