I think Richard Gere says the following in "Shall We Dance?". "We need a witness to our lives. There's a billion people on the planet... I mean, what does any one life really mean? But in a marriage, you're promising to care about everything. The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things... all of it, all of the time, every day. You're saying 'Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it. Your life will not go un-witnessed because I will be your witness." But it all seems fake to me after a nasty divorce. Maybe I should change my nickname to "unluckydude". Anyways, people have different opinions about marriage. Some say it's good others say its bad. Some say you'll lose your freedom while others say you'll have at least someone who understands you (well, unless the partner is like my x-wife) The bottom line is that it all depends who you are married to.