A happy marriage is a long conversation which always seems too short.

This aphorism is widely attributed to the French novelist and essayist André Maurois and circulates chiefly in English-language quotation collections. It reflects Maurois’s long-standing interest in the psychology of love and the practical conditions of companionship—an interest visible across his essays and portraits of notable lives, where he often treats marriage less as a romantic climax than as an enduring daily relationship. The line is typically presented as a standalone maxim rather than as a remark tied to a specific recorded speech or interview, and it is commonly quoted without surrounding narrative, suggesting it was crafted as a general observation about marital happiness rather than prompted by a single public occasion.

The metaphor of marriage as “a long conversation” shifts emphasis from romance as a peak emotion to partnership as an ongoing, shared intellectual and emotional life. A “happy” marriage, in this view, is not defined by constant excitement but by sustained mutual curiosity, attentiveness, and the ability to keep speaking—and listening—across years. The paradox “always seems too short” implies that genuine intimacy makes time feel compressed: when dialogue remains lively, the relationship retains freshness rather than becoming routine. The aphorism also quietly elevates equality; conversation presumes two voices with space to respond, revise, and grow, making communication the core practice of enduring love.

1) “A happy marriage is a long conversation that always seems too short.”
2) “A successful marriage is a long conversation which always seems too short.”
3) “A happy marriage is a long conversation.”