I never had a policy about marriage. I got married very young in life and I always think in all relationships, I’ve always thought that it’s counterproductive to have a theory on that.

Nicholson frames marriage and intimacy as domains where rigid principles can backfire. By saying he “never had a policy,” he rejects prescriptive rules—either moralistic or strategic—about how relationships should work. The reference to marrying “very young” suggests that early experience taught him the limits of planning: relationships are contingent, shaped by personality, timing, and circumstance rather than by a fixed “theory.” The remark also implies a pragmatic, experiential ethic: instead of approaching love as an ideology to be defended, he favors responsiveness and improvisation. In this view, trying to systematize romance becomes “counterproductive” because it can replace attention to the actual person and situation with abstract expectations.