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[Women] are instinctively, when uncorrupt, monogamous. Men are not…..No good pretending. Men just ain’t, not by their animal nature. Monogamy (although it has long been fundamental to our inherited ideas) is for us men a piece of ‘revealed’ ethic, according to faith and not to the flesh.
TIL Tolkien used the word "ain't"
Unless this was a paraphrase?
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Very interesting! Yet another cool concept that you’ve exposed me to for the first time!
In a letter to one of his sons, Tolkien addresses the idea of finding an ideal spouse. I’ve always found it interesting and believe it sheds more light on why the secretary problem wouldn’t apply well to dating. It’s broken up in a few quotes under point three of this site which discusses the letter it’s from: https://beautymatters.substack.com/p/tolkiens-guide-to-a-good-marraige
You can probably find the whole thing online, but on a quick search, this site seems to lay it out well.