Marriage Quote by Donald Sutherland

A movie star praising his wife for "tolerating" him is a neatly self-deprecating way to dodge the usual celebrity speech trap: sounding like he’s giving an acceptance-award monologue to his own life. Donald Sutherland’s line is built on a sly reversal of ego. The public expects an actor of his stature to project authority, charisma, maybe even a little mythmaking. Instead, he frames his marriage as an act of patience performed by someone else. The laugh is implied, but the humility is the point.

“Tolerates” is doing the heavy lifting. It’s not the sentimental verb (loves, cherishes) and not the dramatic one (endures). It suggests lived-in intimacy: the everyday accommodations, the quirks, the travel, the mood shifts, the self-absorption that a long acting career can normalize. He’s hinting at the less glamorous reality behind the image - that being the protagonist in public can make you exhausting in private.

Then he pivots to “three wonderful sons,” a move that widens the frame from couplehood to legacy without turning grandiose. It lands like a quiet corrective to celebrity culture’s obsession with the singular genius. Whatever the world thinks it admires about Sutherland - the roles, the range, the aura - he’s choosing to locate his real luck in the people who have had to live with him, not just watch him. The intent is charm, but the subtext is gratitude with a comedian’s protective armor: make the joke first, so the sincerity can safely follow.