Would you rather lower your standards to find someone who meets them or die without settling?

While I think it's important to have shared values and common interests, I'm not sure I consider those "standards."

Some standards need to be flexible, some should be set in stone.

Everyone should be prepared to compromise on looks, height, $$$, coolth, age, and all the other shallow things.

Nobody should EVER compromise their standards when it comes to being treated well! Never stay with a psycho or an abuser because you're afraid of being alone, that's where you don't compromise.

I purposely increase them so I’m never in danger of getting married.

I have impossibly high standards which could only be fulfilled by magic or fictional technology like the Star Trek TNG "holodeck." She would be able to shape-shift; one day looking and sounding exactly like e.g., Catherine Bach circa 1979; another day looking and sounding exactly like Elizabeth Montgomery circa 1964; another day looking and sounding exactly like Yulia Nova circa 2000, and so on.

Also, she'd never nag or complain about anything, she'd never have a "headache," she'd love doing housework, she'd be a master chef, she'd have no interest in using a cell phone for any reason, and she'd have no interest in redecorating the house or otherwise trying to change me or my stuff in any way.

Getting back to the real world; as for living alone, I wouldn't have it any other way. Women are amazing (some of them are, anyway); the way they look, the way they sound, the way they think; but only in limited doses. Once they move in with you, their cons soon start to outweigh their pros (the way they think is the first thing that changes from fascinating/charming to a major pain in the ass), and in my experience, there are zero exceptions to that rule.

Die alone.

Most people have a basic set of standards for the person they want to be with, and outside of those, the rest are just window dressing for these basic standards. If the person you hope to be with till you die can't live up to those basic set of standards, then you might as well be alone because you're setting yourself up to be discontent otherwise, and probably alone anyway.

Let's put it this way; you're sparing yourself a lot of heartbreak and misery not getting involved with the wrong person through lowering of standards due to desperation. Too often people end up pairing with anyone who even remotely has something in common with them, due to fear of dying alone, and then they end up far worse than they would have if they had kept up their standards and at least attempted to find someone better than the loser(s) they wasted time with.

A sad trend I've noticed with a lot of women in the US, for example is, they'll think they've found "the one," marry him, have a kid or 2, and then find out he wasn't really the right guy, they divorce, and it isn't until husband #2 or #3 that she finally finds the right guy for her. It happens to guys as well.