The woman behind the man
It is said that behind every great man there is a woman. But I say to you, behind every great ego there is a wife!
Yes, behind every truly great man there is a woman, but she was the one he didn't marry. She existed as a negative factor in his life, at just the right time to arouse his ideality, and then she promptly vanished from the scene. Her favour to him was to marry another.
"It is through woman that ideality is born into the world and - what were man without her? Many a man has become a genius because of a woman, many a man a hero, many a man a poet, many a man even a saint; but he did not become a genius through the woman he married, for through her he only became a privy counsellor; he did not become a hero through the woman he married, for through her he only became a general; he did not become a poet through the woman he married, for through her he only became a father; he did not become a saint though the woman he married - for he did not marry; and would have married but one, the one whom he did not marry." — Kierkeghaard
In marriage: woman has nothing to lose, while man has everything to lose. She knows who she is, what she wants, and how to get it. He doesn't know who he is, what he wants, or how to get it.