What do you think are the top 5 marriage qualities one must have to maintain a successful marriage?

Answer 1

Mine are:

1. Marry the one you truly love and for all the right reasons.
2. Don't hold unrealistic expectations.
3. Emphasize the best in your spouse - nobodies perfect.
4. Be your mate's best friend.
5. Spend quality time together.
6. Express your feelings - open communication VERY important.
7. Admit to mistakes when you're wrong.
8. Leave the past in the past - never bring up past mistakes.

I know you said 5, but once I got to thinking about this it turned into more as you see.

Answer 2

I asked a bunch of people who had been married more than 25 years each this same question before a friend got married, and passed along their advice in a card to the bride and groom. They said:

1) A sense of humor - both parties need to be able to laugh at themselves and life. Someone once said "there are two responses to life - you can laugh, or you can cry. I prefer to laugh, because there's less cleaning up to do afterward."

2) Commitment - both parties need to be committed to making the relationship work. Start from the assumption that you will not divorce. Take that off the table. You are left with a lifetime relationship and a determination to make it work for both of you.

3) Ground rules - you need to agree beforehand on how you will resolve disputes. No bringing up anything outside the issue under discussion, for example. Agreeing it's okay to take a "time out" to cool off if tempers get too heated. Recognition that you have to discuss things calmly, because nobody ever resolved anything while yelling.

4) Friendship - there are two big components to a successful romantic relationship, friendship and romance. Over time, there will be days when one or both of you is not at your best, or there's a lot of stress. You fall back on the friendship. You have to put in time maintaining both your romantic relationship and your friendship.

5) A sense of who you are, together, and what you stand for, as a family. As of the end of the "I do's," you two are a family, whether you have children or not. You have to know who you are, what your priorities are, alone and together. You have to know that you come first with each other, above other family, work, etc. You provide each other's safe harbor, and together you build a life together. If you agree on the big things - like how people should treat each other, what's important in life - then you place those things first and you have a sense of being grounded and balanced as a couple.

There were more things they mentioned (it's nice if there's at least one activity you enjoy together, for example).

Answer 3

I usually tell people four things?

1) A long list of common interests; things you both enjoy doing TOGETHER as opposed to separate interests and separate groups of friends.

2) A lot of tolerance for each other's differences. As much as you share in common, you're still going to rub one another wrong from time to time. Be mature and deal with it. Separate the small $h!t from the serious stuff.

3) A sense of compromise; so that you can work out your problems with a minimum of emotional trauma. It's marital negotiation.

4) A sense of sympathy and forgiveness. You're both going to screw up on occasion. You need to be able to forgive, forget, and move on with the relationship.

Answer 4

1. Loyalty
2. Unconditional Love
3. Good communication skills
4. Trust
5. Patience

Answer 5

Man has to have:
1. MasterCard
2. Visa
3. American Express
4. Discover
5. Savings Account

Girl has to be:
1. Hot
2. Hot
3. Hot
4. Hot
5. Hot

Answer 6

1. Communication
2. Patience
3. Empathy
4. Acceptance
5. Similar philosophies (on family, children, money, etc)

Answer 7

Trust + Respect + Compassion + Love + Seperate checking accounts. I'm telling you it's the truth, lol.

Answer 8

1. Security in each other.
2. Healthy, open communication with right timing.
3. Flexibility (willingness to be influenced by each other).
4. Desire to please partner with no strings attached.
5. Being best friends (sharing companionship, laughter, hobbies or vocations).

Answer 9

Communication
Hot sex
same values in life
same views about money
same child rearing ideas

Answer 10

1. Deaf
2. Mute
3. Blind
4. Dumb
5. Low self esteem