100% of marriages end.

Whoever They are, they know a lot. And They say that 50% of marriages end in divorce.

Sounds depressing right? Well, how do the other 50% of marriages end? I guess you can't really count annulment since that realistically means the marriage never happened, and is probably counted in the "divorce" category anyway.

So if 50% of marriages end in divorce, the only other way to end a marriage is, I guess, death.

So in other words: 100% of marriages end.

Why is the 50% statistic so odd? Well, for one - people who speak poorly of divorce feel that it is better for a marriage to end with death. I for one, think that is fairly morbid. But when is the magic timeframe where a death signifies a successful marriage, a "non-divorce"?

For example, my marriage ended in divorce after 15 years. So we are in that "failed marriage" category. But if I had died three months ago, our marriage would have been considered a "success" even though the reality is that three months later there would have been a divorce.

So for two people who are married for 25 years but just grow apart - they are a failure. But a marriage which ends after a year due to death is considered a success - even if we don't know what would have happened.

How long does a marriage have to be to not be a failure, and why is death the only non failing way out?