Although too much conflict is clearly damaging to a marriage and husbands and wives must learn the important art of letting little things go, it is also harmful to a marriage to completely avoid conflict. When people continually avoid difficult topics, misunderstandings can grow and couples can start to grow apart. By tiptoeing around the difficult issues, couples introduce distance into their relationship. In so doing, they deprive their relationship of the shared experience and mutual knowledge that provide the emotional foundation of marriage.