Marriage = an institution not an ideal

Currently reading Christopher Ash's magisterial book on marriage where he notes that:

Marriage is not an ideal, but an institution within which couples are called to live

In other words, being married is not about striving towards some high ideal but about entering a status from which the longed for warmth, growth and maturity may be achieved. Or to quote Christopher again,

Marriage must first have a stasis before it can have a proper dynamis.