How to be happy though human / by W. Béran Wolfe.
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enterprises. There are men and women who are happy in a love life that would appal and dishearten other men and women. Some couples are completely happy without children, others are dejected and depressed because children are denied them. Some married couples thrive on poverty, while others' loves are destroyed by purely economic factors. Physical opposites often lead to happy sexual unions, and as often to unhappy ones. Not infrequently, factors which are recognized but minimized in the beginning of a love relation become increasingly important with the passage of time. Many a couple that is profoundly happy in the beginning becomes unhappy eventually simply because human beings grow and develop, spiritually and mentally, at varying rates. There are certain fundamental prerequisites to a happy marriage : both partners in a happy love relation should possess an objective sense of self-esteem, a well-defined social feeling, and both should be completely free of any neurotic striving for prestige at the expense of the opposite sex. Mental maturity, physical health, and psychological independence in outlook, a knowledge of the art of love and the practice of contraception are important premisses of a normal sexual life. A. mature sense of social responsibility, the willingness to make concessions to reality, freedom from neurotic traits (including any tendency toward romantic idealism), a wide and catholic range of human interests, and the willingness to grow, to cooperate, to suffer sometimes, and to share always the disappointments and the joys of life—these are the foundations of success in the solution of the love problems of every-day life. The willingness to encourage, the ability to identify oneself with the situation of the sexual partner, help one over the usual obstacles, especially when these qualities supplement the possession of some socially valuable occupation, and, if possible, of some common avocations. Financial inde¬ pendence, religious accord, social equality, and freedom from neurotic relatives, while not essentials, help immeasurably to cement the ideal sexual union.