The marital manual was literally written by Marlo Thomas and Phil Donahue.

The long-married pair shares personal details of their marriage in their book, What Makes a Marriage Las: 40 Celebrated Couples Share with Us the Secrets.

Marlo most intriguingly discloses that, despite having been married to Phil for more than 40 years, she grew up with little interest in being married.

In the book, the celebrity shared her formerly pessimistic viewpoint on the institution: “Marriage is like a vacuum cleaner: you stick it to your ear, and it sucks out all your energy and ambition.”

Thomas expresses her sentiments often, comparing marriage to being a prisoner that one must appease. Until she met Donahue, that is.

After Phil Donahue’s first marriage ended in divorce, Marlo Thomas and Phil Donahue both met one another, and now they are lifelong friends.