What is the most important thing to maintain good relationship between a husband and a wife?

Spouses are unique.  Most of us have only one.  And while someone could be a parent to many children or child of two or cousin of many, spouse is unique.  And in the present day US with both spouses working and trying to manage the household and realizing that they cannot pursue any and all opportunities because of their spouse, the stress piles up. Therefore, in my opinion, the first thing is to communicate (not through words, through actions) that the relationship with your spouse is on top of the list.  If you have to wake up at 5am and get to work by 6am (and you are not a morning person) in order to make sure you have dinner with your spouse - that is a good thing.

Most important thing would be trust and respect for each other. Never lie to each other. Always be truthful. If any doubts always communicate. Communication is key to a long stable and happy married life. Accept the person with all their good and bad habits. Encourage them and always praise them each day for their good deeds. Never point a finger at each other. In fact talk it out and settle differences. Life is too short use wise words and rational decisions. Look before you leap and think before you speak. Avoid anger completely. Be more patient towards each other and your family needs. All the best.

First of all you have to be open for your partner, you both should understand each other, make conversation and discuss things you did all day not all but at least some important things you like to share with your partner. Trust is one more factor to keep your married life happy if you don’t trust your partner you will never be happy. Make your partner feel important, ask for suggestions make decision together.I am married for past 4 years and by the grace of God we both are happy in our married life, what I do is always keep updated and informed to my wife about things going on, we discuss our plans and decision to be taken for our life. Treat your partner as a friend involve them in everything so they don’t feel left behind. Everything I keep one or two days just for my wife, I plan for a movie or a dinner date with her and mostly I ask her to choose the location this makes her happy and which makes me happy.Love is very important but it is not everything because people I have seen they say I love my wife/husband but still they are not much happy with their relationship. Give proper space to your partner sometimes nagging them to makes relationship hard and feels like suffocation.Love + Romance + Trust + Friendship + Understanding + Respect this are best keys for a Happy relationships.

I think flexibility is important; not trying to live your marriage according to rules of society or religion. For us it was defining our own marriage. We started off trying to be married according to the book. That did not work so well because I like sex with other women and my wife knew that before we even met. I had a reputation for that and she knew past girlfriends and even saw my picture. In fact, she was shocked when I asked her out because she thought she was not in my league.First to go was monogamy. We became monogamish. That is, we strove to be monogamous but the occasional fling was not a deal breaker as long as it was the exception and not the rule. We realized that as humans, we are controlled by emotions and you cannot beat your emotions all of the time. At first we wife swapped and swung a little so that we both could experience sex with others. My wife was a virgin when we met so she never had sex with another man. Turns out that she did not like sex with other men, just me but liked sex with other women.We ended up in a poly triad with my wife’s best friend. All three of us loved each other so ti worked out well for most of our 40+ year marriage. We also did not have kids and we moved 13 times. Whenever things got boring we moved or I changed jobs or did whatever shook up our life to reboot it. We had a life of fun and adventure. Lots of sex by trying all sorts of fetishes to see if we liked them. Without kids you have a lot of extra money to spend on yourselves and we did. We spoiled ourselves and lived an upper income life.I am not suggesting that you do what we did but I do suggest that you define your own marriage. After that is sex. Most downplay the importance of sex in a marriage but during sex your brain releases Oxytocin which is a hormone that emotionally binds you to your spouse. Without it, you lose that bond. It is a basically use it or lose it deal. Cheating results and so does unhappiness. Third would be kids. Once you have kids your life is no longer yours. You spent the next few decades catering to their needs. Sure you love them but in return you lose your life in the process. I live with lots of retired people. Half of them have good kids but the other half have kids that abuse them, need to be supported, are drug addicts, have mental problems, steal from them and even kill them. You roll the dice and take your chances.

Like Rossi, I agree with trust and respects, but what really keeps us (hubby and I) going is laughter and silliness.Throughout our marriage we've had more ups and downs + downs than most, but what gets us through the days and weeks ahead is laughter and the funny little jokes we play on one another.  Like today, he is going across the border and I put my laciest thongs in with his passport, with an elastic.  He'll be pleasantly surprised when he takes it out, and knowing him he'll burst into laughter and so will the border guard.  They know him, at least most of them and those who don't, will definitely remember him.I'm sure I'll find an email waiting for me tomorrow.  Can hardly wait.  It's like simple little romantic gestures, you just can't get enough.  If you could hear him laugh, you'd know it was worth it.  And then of course there's his smile.  What can I say, he's the one for me.

You cannot understand the nuances of good marriage unless you live it. Though love is the foundation of your marriage, it needs many more aspects to make it a success. Never have great expectations as invariably it will crash. Do not think your marriage would be happy if you do not nurture it. Married life is very intricate. You should understand the emotional needs of your spouse to make him\her happy.http://www.breezystorm.com/top-10-super-tips-for-happy-married-life-basic-niceties/

A2A Well I wouldn't know because I'm not married and odds aren't looking good, but I'd say honesty and loyalty. Both of those things.  Without them you can't have trust or happiness. Without them you can't be yourself or speak freely or share your thoughts and feelings. If you can't tell them anything, a part of you will always be lonely inside.

ATTENTION READERS———UNFORTUNATELY THIS QUESTION WAS GHANGED THREE TIMES! DURING THE FIRST TWO CHANGES, MY ANSWER WAS LEFT AS QUITE APPROPRIATE AND GAINING MORE AND MORE MOMENTUM! HOWEVER THE AUTHOR JUST HAD TO CHANGE THE QUESTION YET ONCE MORETHE QUESTION I ANSWERED WAS SOMETHING TO THE EFFECT OF THIS: “Name a quality between men and women that will provide a very long marriage.”APOLOGIES FOR THE INSISTENT MISUNDERSTANDINGS FROM THE AUTHOR. HERE THEN, IS MY ANSWER THAT WENT WITH THE ORIGINAL AND REWRITTEN QUESTION:If I had to name just one quality, it would be “TIME.”That may sound like a strange answer but it's true. I remember a not-so-kind member of the family telling me, “You and your husband spend too much time together!” I couldn't believe what I heard. I responded, “Isn't that the point of marriage?”Surprisingly, it's not a popular answer! This person you married, married you. While it's not always easy to spend time together, it's necessary. When you devote one of the most popular commodities to someone, they feel wanted, appreciated, loved and when you're together, you get to know each other in a more real, intimate way.When you really know someone, eventually if you're honest with each other, you will learn about the sensitivities of each other, what makes each other tick, and most likely, they will learn weaknesses as well. That's not such a bad thing! When someone loves you and sees your weaknesses, then they will know how to help you and you will learn how to help them. It's an adhoc way to learn about someone - just lock a couple in a room and good or bad, they will come out knowing each other on a much closer level.It's not a business agreement…it's marriage. REMEMBER HOW YOU FELL IN LOVENo one falls in love without spending time together. Time is required for two people to get to know one another. Without time there is no knowledge. While you can lust after what you do not know, you cannot love what you do not know. Knowledge is a prerequisite for love. Check out http://kevinathompson.com for more on this!http://www.kevinathompson.com/wonder-dont-love/So, yes, the answer to a longer, happier marriage is to spend more, a lot more TIME with the one you love!(How you fill that time is up to you!)Have fun!:)

Communication. Trust is optional if there is communication.