That is all very eloquent, my young friend; but if you had lived to Ana's age, or even to mine, you would have learned that the people who get rid of the fear of poverty and children and all the other family troubles, and devote themselves to having a good time of it, only leave their minds free for the fear of old age and ugliness and impotence and death. The childless laborer is more tormented by his wife's idleness and her constant demands for amusement and distraction than he could be by twenty children; and his wife is more wretched than he. I have had my share of vanity; for as a young man I was admired by women; and as a statue I am praised by art critics. But I confess that had I found nothing to do in the world but wallow in these delights I should have cut my throat. When I married Ana's mother--or perhaps, to be strictly correct, I should rather say when I at last gave in and allowed Ana's mother to marry me--I knew that I was planting thorns in my pillow, and that marriage for me, a swaggering young officer thitherto unvanquished, meant defeat and capture. (ANA: Father!) I am sorry to shock you, my love; but since Juan has stripped every rag of decency from the discussion I may as well tell the frozen truth. (ANA: Hmf! I suppose I was one of the thorns.) By no means: you were often a rose. You see, your mother had most of the trouble you gave.

The Statue Monologue from Man and Superman: A Comedy and a Philosophy

Rehearse The Statue's monologue