Marriage

Marriage, however, proved to be a towering practical problem — Princeton, where Feynman was now pursuing a Ph.D., threatened to withdraw the fellowships funding his graduate studies if he were to wed, for the university considered the emotional and pragmatic responsibilities of marriage a grave threat to academic discipline. [Here]

The above is about Richard Feynman, but reminds me of a story closer to home, told to me by a consultant dermatologist (who I will call CS) and former academic. CS, then a senior registrar, on entering the departmental library, was pleased to see the elderly professor reaching for books on the top shelf. CS, with evident pride, told the professor that he had good news: he was engaged to be married. The professor replied: ‘Sorry to hear that CS, I had high hopes for you’.