Quote Originally Posted by Posh View Post
Marriage is not a crap shoot. Craps is a crap shoot. But you are right about keeping it simple. The simple facts in this matter for both men and women are the same. You can choose someone based on a lot of different things, e.g. money, looks, their ability to make your eyes roll into the back of your head. But whatever the other criteria, I think three of those things must include someone from a healthy family background, good character and similar value systems to your own. That ensures the longevity of anyone's marriage.

People don't just get married and then divorce because the sky is blue. They divorce for reasons that could be seen well before the marriage but they refused to want to see it, thinking they were going to change or you were going to change them. If you take a chance on choosing someone based on ANY other criteria than these three simple tenets, your marriage is doomed to failure.
Agreed, but you still cannot deny that there are couples out there who have done everything you have suggested, yet still divorced. There are anecdotes to substantiate your claim, just as there are anecdotes to substantiate the contrary.

There are no cookie-cutter solutions to succeed in this whole marriage matter, and you know it. I submit that there is no universal secret to succeed in marriage, and that alone would conclude convincingly that success in marriage is indeed a craphsoot.