age. Their hereditary traits, if any
previously existed, assume a dormant form at this age. They have
cultivated the temperamental qualities which they will retain, with few
modifications, throughout life. On the other hand, their dispositions
are responsive to reason, and are capable of readjustment. Their
temperamental characteristics are plastic, and under favorable
conditions it is possible for both to evidence a degree of sympathy and
toleration that bespeaks future harmony and success. No marriage can
result in mutual happiness and success if one of the participants is
temperamentally incapable of changing his or her convictions. One of the
fundamental essentials to peace in the home is the quality of adaptation
to circumstances, and no other virtue will be called into existence
oftener than this quality. At this age, a man is eager to contribute to
the contentment and happiness of his partner, even if it is necessary to
sacrifice his own whims and opinions, and a woman, at this period, is
temperamentally so constituted that she will respond to the same
impulses.

Incompatibility of temperament simply implies that two individuals are
so constituted that they cannot, or will not, adapt themselves to the
temperamental characteristics of each other. This condition is one of
the most prolific causes of unfortunate marriages. Age has a great deal
to do with this situation. Men over thirty have unconsciously developed
habits of judgment and are too set in their opinions and ways to
accommodate themselves easily, or without friction, to the temperamental
differences that will undoubtedly exist in their wives. The spirit of
adaptation, which is a characteristic of younger years, is lacking, and
a mental readjustment is scarcely to be expected. We, therefore,
frequently observe in the marriage relations of certain individuals a
spirit of friendship existing rather than that of companionship which
should be the quality that binds them together. Statistics prove that
"affinities" creep into the lives of those who marry early, or in those
who marry after thirty. This form of domestic infelicity may be rightly
regarded as a product of "incompatibility of temperament."

A happy marriage need not be a successful one. Some couples attain
happiness through sorrow, grief, and failure. The so-called happy
marriage, like happiness itself, is only a myth, made up of anticipation
and memory. You have only to look into the calm and wri