Humans find it quite difficult to live with one another even during the best of times. Some of us aren't emotionally wired for intimacy. Some of us have crippling flaws that make relationships difficult. In fact, some of history's greatest contributors have been relationship-challenged. As an adult, Isaac Newton shunned personal intimacy in all its forms, preferring his laboratory of the mind to living specimens. Henri Nouwen, who inspired many of us to move deeper into relationships with God and one another, had trouble himself developing intimacy with others. Relational disorders abound among creative people....

But we live in a culture that makes relationships harder while stimulating the hunger for relationships. The more globally the market economy structures itself, the more relentless the assault on all nonmarket social relations. [from Out of the Question...Into the Mystery by Leonard Sweet,quoted in this post via Jordon Cooper]

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A friend of mine once told me,"From what I understand of celibacy, it's a lot like fasting (chastity is more like nutrition). Celibacy shouldn't be seen as deprivation, but appreciating the gift of another and focusing on God in the meantime. Therefore, marriage shouldn't be seen as an escape from celibacy and chastity. If people do, then they do more damage to the sacrament than single celibates. " --from this post at Deluded Wine