A wise man, therefore, must not take a wife. For in the first place his study of philosophy will be hindered, and it is impossible for anyone to attend to his books and his wife. She must be called my lady, her birthday must be kept, we must swear by her health and wish that she may survive us, respect must be paid to the nurse, to the nursemaid, to the father's slave . . . . It is difficult to guard what many long for. It is annoying to have what no one thinks worth possessing.
Nothing is safe for which a whole people sighs and longs.