Leaving and Cleaving

"I take occasion to remark as a general rule, that mothers-in-law are seldom wise or add to the happiness of their daughters in reality. With the best of intentions and out of excessive affection they do a great amount of mischief, interfere in matters they had far better let alone, and cause a vast quantity of petty squabbling and unhappiness. I ask my children to particularly notice this: it is the result of long observation of a great many cases in life. It is my deliberate conviction when a young woman marries and leaves her home, that the more she and her husband are let alone and the less they are meddled with and interfered with by other persons, the happier and better it will be for them."

J. C. Ryle, A Self-Portrait: A Parital Autobiography