These impossible women! How they do get around us!
The poet was right: can’t live with them, or without them!

The line trades on a familiar comic paradox: women are portrayed as exasperating and disruptive to male control, yet also indispensable. Read as Aristophanic humor, it reflects the gendered anxieties and stereotypes that Old Comedy often amplifies—men complaining about being “outwitted” while admitting dependence. The phrasing “can’t live with them, or without them” functions as a punchline that turns frustration into resigned admiration, suggesting that conflict between the sexes is both perennial and, in comedy, a source of social commentary. In modern reception, the sentiment is often detached from its theatrical setting and used as a generalized quip about relationships.