2. Marriage Makes a Man or a Woman Complete

World Scripture

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” So out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper fit for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh; and the rib which the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh.¹¹
Genesis 2.18-24

The unmarried person lives without joy, without blessing, without good.
Talmud, Yebamot 62b (Judaism)

In the beginning there was only the Self, one only… He found no joy; so even today, one who is all alone finds no joy. He yearned for a second. He became as large as a man and a woman locked in close embrace. This self he split into two; hence arose husband and wife. Therefore, as Yajnavalkya used to observe, “Oneself is like half of a split pea.” That is why this void is filled by woman. He was united with her, and thence were born human beings.
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.17 and 1.4.3 (Hinduism)

The righteous cannot flourish save when they are male and female together, like Abraham and Sarai.
Zohar 1.82a (Judaism)

He is only a perfect man who consists (of three persons united): his wife, himself and his offspring; thus says the Veda, and learned brahmins propound this maxim likewise, “The husband is declared to be one with his wife.”
Laws of Manu 9.45 (Hinduism)

He that has not got a wife is not yet a complete man.
Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanack

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

A man by himself or a woman by herself is only one half. They marry to become complete. The love that you should perfect in your marriage is not egoistic love based on the belief that you live to gratify yourself. That kind of love is temporary and false. You should think that you are not born for your own sake but for the sake of your partner. Then you should give and forget, give and forget. True love begins from that point.
(262:67-68, July 23, 1994)

Living for others is the basic rule of the existing world; all things are created for others and nothing was created for itself. Hence, man was not born for man; he was born for woman. Woman was not born for woman, but for man.
Whether beautiful or ugly, every woman exists for the sake of a man. All the characteristics and emotions of man and woman are designed for each other, not for themselves. When the partners in a marriage say to each other, “I was born for you, I will live for you, and I will die for you,” they are considered an ideal, happy couple. This is, indeed, correct from the perspective of the basic rule of the existing world. This is the starting-point for true love.
(135:234, December 11, 1985)

Young men and women aspire to become great individuals. They want to build a good family and become good parents. Yet at the same time, they feel that they are lacking something within themselves. That is why, whether man or woman, they desire to have a good partner in their life. For the same reason, people wish to have children who are better than themselves. How wonderful it would be if we could complement our weaknesses through our counterpart! All people, when they love each other, carry such a desire deep in their hearts.
(26:147, October 25, 1969)

Woman has a feminine nature and man has a masculine nature; God made them as divided embodiments of Himself. How can they come together as one? Through love. Having formerly been divided, when they come together they will experience how strong the love is that God had been holding within Himself. Otherwise, they would never know God’s love. You have love within you, but by yourself you cannot know it. You can experience it when you embrace your spouse. When you love your spouse, you feel all the love that was inside you from the beginning.
(185:187, January 8, 1989)

A husband needs his wife more than any other person in the world. The wife needs her husband more than any other person in the world. A husband and wife should be each other’s walking stick, companions who are ever advising each other.
(27:87, November 26, 1969)

Husbands, the woman standing before you is God’s daughter. Also, before she is your wife, she is humanity’s daughter. If you can love her as God’s beloved daughter and a woman whom all humanity loves, then you are qualified to be her husband.

Men who do not respect their wives are not true husbands. Do you have such regard for your wife? If not, you should change, even now.

Wives, you should not think that your husband only belongs to you. First, he is a son of God; next, he represents all the men in the world.

You should become a woman who can love this man more than all humanity can, and love him more than God loves him…

When a woman marries, she should be willing to become like her husband’s left foot, walking in step with him on their family’s path of love for God and all humanity. The husband is like the right foot and the wife is like the left foot. You should not go through life crippled; therefore you should marry. Your couple should not walk with a limp; both the right foot and the left foot should be healthy and strong. If it can walk straight, your couple is destined to live a harmonious married life.
(88:318, October 3, 1976)

Many women think it is okay not to marry if they do not want to. Yet if a woman does not marry, her physical body will not be able to function as a woman, and she will eventually get sick. A woman’s body is built with marriage as its normal life state. For a woman to live a single life and never marry a man is not normal, and to think that it is all right not to marry is not normal thinking.
(238:71-72, November 19, 1992)