By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you'll become happy; if you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher.

Origin unknown. Attributed to Sydney Smith in Speaker's Handbook of Epigrams and Witticisms (1955) by Herbert Prochnow, p. 190. Variant reported in Why Are You Single? (1949) by Hilda Holland, p. 49: «When asked by a young man whether to marry, Socrates is said to have replied: "By all means, marry. If you will get for yourself a good wife, you will be happy forever after; and if by chance you will get a common scold like my Xanthippe—why then you will become a philosopher."» Google books shows another variant from a collection of 1935 issues of The Golden Book Magazine: "Marry by all means. If you get a good wife you will become very happy; if you get a bad one you will become a philosopher—and that is good for every man!" Some further investigation shows this was from the July 1935 issue, p. 97, but no source is given there beyond the attribution to Socrates.