לעולם יהא אדם זהיר בכבוד אשתו שאין ברכה מצויה בביתו של אדם אלא בשביל אשתו וכך אמרו חכמים לבני דורם כבדו את נשותיכם כדי שתתעשרו
(Shulchan Aruch Harav, Laws of paining and theft of knowledge, 32)
My guess of a translation
always a man should be diligent in the respect of his wife, since the blessing does not exist in the house of man except (that is, it only exists) for/because-of his wife. And so said the sages to the children (people living) in their generation respect your wives to become rich
How does this work?
How can one understand: "since the blessing does not exist in the house of man except (that is, it only exists) for/because-of his wife שאין ברכה מצויה בביתו של אדם אלא בשביל אשתו"?
With my westernised mind I do not understand the above logic; please explain it to me.
Answer
Based on clarification of OP's question found in comments:
The source for this quote is the Gemara Bava Metsia 59a:
לעולם יהא אדם זהיר בכבוד אשתו, שאין ברכה מצויה בתוך ביתו של אדם אלא בשביל אשתו, שנאמר ולאברם הטיב בעבורה. והיינו דאמר להו רבא לבני מחוזא: אוקירו לנשייכו כי היכי דתתעתרו
A person should always be careful regarding the honor of his wife, for blessing is only found in a person's house on account of his wife, for it says "And to Abraham he did good on her account". And this is equivalent to what Rava told the people of Mechoza "Honor your wives so that you will become rich".
The Gemara is not saying that one ought to respect his wife because he is impressed with her blessing bringing ability, but rather that he ought to respect her in order to receive blessing.
This is a classic example of less than ideal motives for proper behavior being used as an incentive.
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