无论男女，婚姻都是他们一生中做出的最重要的抉择之一。男人选择一个女人，是因为在他眼里她是他理想的妻子。每个男人对“理想”的妻子都有自己的定义。比如，百万富翁和穷人可能都会根据女人的形体特征描绘他们理想的妻子。
一个阔佬描述“理想”的妻子是迷人、美丽、性感、聪明、身材匀称的女人。而一个穷人心目中的“理想”老婆则是招人喜欢、可爱、动人、懂事明理、有身条儿。两者对他们理想妻子形体特征的描述大体相同，但用词却不一样。阔佬对理想妻子的描述更文雅一些，穷人的描述则是较为通俗的常用语。
虽然形体特征是一些男人用来定义他们眼中理想太太的标准，但也不乏根据运动特征来定义的男人。就拿爱好野外运动的男人来说吧，他们认为理想太太应该是钓鱼、野营、狩猎和滑水运动的爱好者；而爱好场地运动的男人眼中的标准太太或许应该是橄榄球、篮球、棒球和摔跤比赛的忠实观众。运动特征是这两类男人定义理想太太的共同标准，但他们各自的侧重范围却不尽相同。
当然，其他男人也有自己的定义。就说身材适中和体态臃肿的男人吧。身材适中的男人会这样描述他的理想太太：她每个工作日六点起床，晨跑两三英里，然后回家准备早饭，洗完碗盘后送孩子上学，再去上班。下班后先回家洗几桶衣服，接着去健美班，回来顺路接孩子放学，到家后准备晚饭。饭后清理厨房，给孩子洗澡，再安顿他们睡觉。
而肥胖男人则认为理想妻子是早上8点起床，带孩子去麦当劳吃早餐，接着开车送他们到学校。然后回家，歪在沙发上看一天的肥皂剧。下午，孩子们得自己步行回家，到家后，她指挥他们打扫房间、洗衣服、做几个热狗当作晚餐。这两种男人以自己所欣赏的特点作为择偶标准。
不同国家的男人对理想的妻子都有自己的标准。比如意大利男人愿意娶身高6英尺1英寸，金发碧眼，上身很丰满的女人做老婆。而法国男人却认为，身高5英尺3英寸，棕发绿眼，体型匀称适中的女人才是理想妻子。
其他国家的男人，如德国男人和西班牙男人，认为完美的妻子应该是个时尚的女人。在德国男人的眼中，理想的太太应该喜欢驾驶昂贵的跑车，每个月都去不同的国家观光，而且只穿最昂贵的名师设计的时装。而西班牙男人则认为理想的太太喜欢每个周末都举办晚宴聚会，浑身珠光宝气，喝名贵的葡萄酒。
对于理想妻子，除了上述的几种定义以外，单身汉也有自己的一套说法。他认为理想的妻子就是别人的老婆。他在酒吧里和她调情，把她带回他的住处，第二天早上送她回家。由于单身汉对理想的妻子并没有一个真正的标准，这正是他至今仍是个单身汉的原因。
Beautiful Smile and Love
The poor are very wonderful people. One evening we went out and we picked up four people from the street. And one of them was in a most terrible condition，and I told the sisters： “You take care of the other three. I take care of this one who looked worse”. So I did for her all that my love can do. I put her in bed，and there was such a beautiful smile on her for. She took hold of my hand as she said just the words “Thank you” and she died. I could not help but examine my conscienceconscience n.良心，道德心 for her and I asked what would I say if I was in her place. And my answer was very simple. I would have tried to draw a little attention to myself. I would have said I am hungry，that I am dying，I am cold，I am in pain，or something，but she gave me much more-she gave me her grateful love. And she died with a smile on her face. As did that man whom we picked up from the draindrain n.阴沟、下水道half eaten with worms，and we brought him to the home. “I have lived like an animal in the street，but I am going to die like an angel，loved and cared for.” And it was so wonderful to see the greatness of that man who could speak like that，who could die like that without blaming anybody，without cursing anybody，without comparing anything. Like an angel-this is the greatness of our people. And that is why we believe what Jesus had said： I was hungry，I was naked，I was homeless，I was unwanted，unloved，uncared for，and you did it to me.
I believe that we are not real social workers. We may be doing social work in the eyes of the people，but we are really contemplativescontemplatives n.修行者、沉思冥想的人 in the heart of the world. For we are touching the body of Christ twentyfour hours...And I think that in our family we dont need bombs and guns，to destroy，to bring peace，just get together，love one another，bring that peace，that joy，that strength of presence of each other in the home. And we will be able to overcome all the evil that is in the world.
And with this prize that I have received as a Prize of Peace，I am going to try to make the home for many people who have no home. Because I believe that love begins at home，and if we can create a home for the poor I think that more and more love will spread. And we will be able through this understanding love to bring peace be the good news to the poor. The poor in our own family first，in our country and in the world. To be able to do this，our Sisters，our lives have to be wove with prayer. They have to be woven with Christ to be able to understand，to be able to share. Because to be woven with Christ is to be able to understand，to be able to share. Because today there is so much suffering...When I pick up a person from the street，hungry，I give him a plate of rice，a piece of bread，I have satisfied. I have removed that hunger. But a person who is shut out，who feels unwanted，unloved，terrified，the person who has been thrown out from society-that poverty is so full of hurt and so unbearable...And so let us always meet each other with a smile，for the smile is the beginning of love，and once we begin to love each other naturally we want to do something.
美丽的微笑与爱心
穷人是非常了不起的人。一天晚上，我们外出，从街上带回了四个人，其中一个生命岌岌可危。于是我告诉修女们说：“你们照料其他三个，这个濒危的人就由我来照顾了。”就这样，我为她做了我的爱所能做的一切。我将她放在床上，看到她的脸上绽露出如此美丽的微笑。她握着我的手，只说了句“谢谢您”就死了。我情不自禁地在她面前审视起自己的良知来。我问自己，如果我是她的话，会说些什么呢？答案很简单，我会尽量引起旁人对我的关注，我会说我饥饿难忍，冷得发抖，奄奄一息，痛苦不堪，诸如此类的话。但是她给我的却更多更多——她给了我她的感激之情。她死时脸上却带着微笑。我们从排水道带回的那个男子也是如此。当时，他全身几乎都快被虫子吃掉了，我们把他带回了家。“在街上，我一直像个动物一样地活着，但我将像个天使一样地死去，有人爱、有人关心。”真是太好了，我看到了他的伟大之处，他竟能说出那样的话。他那样地死去，不责怪任何人，不诅咒任何人，无欲无求。像天使一样——这便是我们的人民的伟大之所在。因此我们相信耶稣所说的话——我饥肠辘辘——我衣不蔽体——我无家可归——我不为人所要，不为人所爱，也不为人所关心——然而，你却为我做了这一切。
我想，我们算不上真正的社会工作者。在人们的眼中，或许我们是在做社会工作，但实际上，我们真的只是世界中心的修行者。因为，一天24小时，我们都在触摸基督的圣体。我想，在我们的大家庭时，我们不需要枪支和炮弹来破坏和平，或带来和平——我们只需要团结起来，彼此相爱，将和平、欢乐以及每一个家庭成员灵魂的活力都带回世界。这样，我们就能战胜世界上现存的一切邪恶。
我准备以我所获得的诺贝尔和平奖奖金为那些无家可归的人们建立自己的家园。因为我相信，爱源自家庭，如果我们能为穷人建立家园，我想爱便会传播得更广。而且，我们将通过这种宽容博大的爱而带来和平，成为穷人的福音。首先为我们自己家里的穷人，其次为我们国家，为全世界的穷人。为了做到这一点，姐妹们，我们的生活就必须与祷告紧紧相连，必须同基督结结一体才能互相体谅，共同分享，因为同基督结合一体就意味着互相体谅，共同分享。因为，今天的世界上仍有如此多的苦难存在……当我从街上带回一个饥肠辘辘的人时，给他一盘饭，一片面包，我就能使他心满意足了，我就能驱除他的饥饿。但是，如果一个人露宿街头，感到不为人所要、不为人所爱、惶恐不安、被社会抛弃——这样的贫困让人心痛，如此令人无法忍受。因此，让我们总是微笑相见，因为微笑就是爱的开端，一旦我们开始彼此自然地相爱，我们就会想着为对方做点什么了。