1st Epistle of St Paul to the Corinthians

"6 But I speak this by indulgence, not by commandment. 7 For I would that all men were even as myself: but every one hath his proper gift from God; one after this manner, and another after that. 8 But I say to the unmarried, and to the widows: It is good for them if they so continue, even as I. 9 But if they do not contain themselves, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to be burnt. 10 But to them that are married, not I but the Lord commandeth, that the wife depart not from her husband."

Having considered Saint Paul's counsel about marriage, along with the sheer extent of physical, mental, and emotional suffering a married woman may endure throughout her life and into her later years—hardships so severe that she might well be regarded as a victim soul in perpetual affliction—a former advocate of marriage has undergone a complete change of heart. Not only does he now fully understand why many women choose to remain unmarried, but he has also resolved never to advise any woman or girl to marry.