Bernie:
I don’t know whether marriage in its institutional sense is really necessary, except that it makes social and governmental responsibilities easy, it gives you some kind of way to have the right papers, and legal successions, and so on.  But a lot of what’s supposed to be new – the divorce rate, the separations, and people living outside of marriage – went on before, too, only it wasn’t talked about.  It was kept quiet.  ‘Cause in the 19th century, the 18th century, the 16th century, it all went on.  It may be more so now, but I don’t know.

But what makes people get negative about each other, particularly after years of marriage, and having a family, and kids, I don’t know.  I find it very difficult to understand.  Maybe I find it difficult to understand because it hasn’t happened to us.  Maybe that’s why.  Because we always manage to be on the same track, and whatever small things come along, we settle.