"No woman can ever understand why a man doesn't put forth the
same effort to make his home a go
ing concern as he does to make
his business or profession a success.
"But, although to have a contented wife and a peaceful and happy
home means more to a man than to make a million dollars, not one
man in a hundred ever gives any real serious thought or makes any
honest effort to make his marriage a success. He leaves the most
important thing in his life to chance, and he wins out or loses,
according to whether fortune is with him or not. Women can never
understand why their husbands refuse to handle them diplomatically,
when it would be money in their pockets to use the velvet glove
instead of the strong-arm method.
"Every man knows that he can jolly his wife into doing anything, and
doing without anything. He knows that if he hands her a few cheap
compliments about what a wonder
ful manager she is, and how she
helps him, she will squeeze every nickel. Every man knows that if he
tells his wife how beautiful and lovely she looks in her last year's
dress, she wouldn't trade it for the latest Paris importation. Every
man knows that he can kiss his wife's eyes shut until she will be
blind as a bat, and that he has only to give her a warm smack on the
lips to make her dumb as an oyster.
"And every wife knows that her husband knows these things about
her, because she has furnished hi
m with a complete diagram about
how to work her. And she never knows whether to be mad at him or
disgusted with him, because he would rather fight with her and pay
for it in having to eat bad meals, and have his money wasted, and
buy her new frocks and limousines
and pearls, than to take the
trouble to flatter her a little and treat her the way she is begging to
be treated." How to win friends and influence people






