Ann Landers Quotes

No, you're not allowed to be bossy when you're married. You have to learn compromise, and compassion and patience.

I don’t always agree with my wife, but we discuss the issue with love and respect. And then I say “yes.”

In a marriage, we have to accommodate each other's views.

After 45 years of marriage, when I have an argument with my wife, if we don't agree, we do what she wants. But, when we agree, we do what I want!

I think growing up in a big family taught me a lot of problem solving and how to share and compromise, and that's been helpful in my marriage.

When you're not being heard - I can't tell you what to do when you're not being heard. I do think there is a way to move in love and get things done, though.

I think compassion is important but love fizzles out eventually. But if there is compassion in a relationship, things can always be worked out.

We run into some pretty tough arguments sometimes, but the idea is that at the end of the day, my wife and I realize that we'll always be holding each other's hand.

A happy home is one in which each spouse grants the possibility that the other may be right, though neither believes it.

My mother is a ball of fire in the world, and I love that about her. But what I have learned from my stepdad is something as important, which is patience and compassion. Because when you are living with someone else, those two qualities go a long way.

Experts on romance say for a happy marriage there has to be more than a passionate love. For a lasting union, they insist, there must be a genuine liking for each other. Which, in my book, is a good definition for friendship.

Marriage is give and take. You'd better give it to her or she'll take it anyway.

The most important thing for a good marriage is to learn how to argue peaceably.

I don't have the ability to find a middle ground with my audiences, and I know this too well.

Compassion, not passion, keeps a marriage together.

In the course of a marriage, one accommodates the other.

Compatibility is an achievement of love; it shouldn't be its precondition.

If you want to improve a relationship, it's not that you demand your spouse to change. You have to ask, 'Where did I fail in this relationship?'

Don't try to convince your partner you are right. Instead of trying to win arguments, try to have a winning relationship!

I feel like I've always been a great mediator.

Marriage is not all rainbows and butterflies; you have to give in to your partner's whims every now and then, and that's a two-way street.

Negotiation is empathy. It's almost trite to say that if you can't put yourself in the seat of the other person you're speaking with, you're not going to do well. It's not about being a bully, not about making offers people can't refuse.

When it comes to relationship compromise, it's a fine balance between doing something for your own happiness, and finding happiness in being of service to another person, in whatever way that ends up being.

Upsi is definitely the more romantic of the two. I am more laid back. We do have our differences of opinion sometimes. Upsi is always the first one to break the ice after an argument or a difference of opinion. That's what I love most about her.

There's lots of problem solving in any marriage, but when you have this collective goal that is a human being, it's an inspiring rally point.