11. Do Not Marry to Get Rid of Anybody.—The coward who shot himself to escape from being drafted was insane.
12. Do Not Marry Merely for the Impulse of Love.—Love is a principle as well as an emotion. So far as it is a sentiment it is a blind guide. It does not wait to test the presence of exalted character in its object before breaking out into a flame. Shavings make a hot fire, but hard coal is better for the Winter.
13. Do Not Marry Without Love.—A body without a soul soon becomes offensive.
14. Test Carefully the Effect of Protracted Association.—If familiarity breeds contempt before marriage it will afterward.
15. Test Carefully the Effect of Protracted Separation.—True love will defy both time and space.
16. Consider Carefully the right of your children under the laws of heredity. It is doubtful whether you have a right to increase the number of invalids and cripples.
17. Do Not Marry Simply Because You Have Promised to Do So.—If a seam opens between you now it will widen into
a gulf. It is less offensive to retract a mistaken promise than to perjure your soul before the altar. Your intended spouse has a right to absolute integrity.
18. Marry Character.—It is not so much what one has as what one is.