Mary Wollstonecraft Quotes

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I do not wish women to have power over men; but over themselves.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Life, Strong Women, Independent

"The original suffragette: the extraordinary Mary Wollstonecraft" by Bee Rowlatt, www.theguardian.com. October 5, 2015.

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Strengthen the female mind by enlarging it, and there will be an end to blind obedience.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Women, Mother And Daughter, Mind

1792 A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, pt.1, ch.2.

59 Copy quote
The more equality there is established among men, the more virtue and happiness will reign in society.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Equality, Men, Reign

Mary Wollstonecraft (2013). “Vindication of the Rights of Women”, p.12, Lulu.com

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Let woman share the rights and she will emulate the virtues of man; for she must grow more perfect when emancipated.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Men, Rights, Perfect

1792 A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, pt.1, ch.13.

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Only that education deserves emphatically to be termed cultivation of the mind which teaches young people how to begin to think.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Education, Thinking, People

Mary Wollstonecraft (2015). “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman”, p.202, Booklassic

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The beginning is always today.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Inspiring, New Beginnings, Divorce

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Women do not want power over men, they want power over themselves.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Men, Want

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When we feel deeply, we reason profoundly.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Reason, Feels

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It is justice, not charity, that is wanting in the world.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Justice, Diversity, World

Mary Wollstonecraft, Sylvana Tomaselli (1995). “Wollstonecraft: A Vindication of the Rights of Men and a Vindication of the Rights of Woman and Hints”, p.149, Cambridge University Press

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Taught from infancy that beauty is woman's sceptre, the mind shapes itself to the body, and roaming round its gilt cage, only seeks to adorn its prison.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Beauty, Women, Infancy Is

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman ch. 3 (1792)

85 Copy quote
Virtue can only flourish among equals.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Equality, Virtue, Equal

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No man chooses evil because it's evil. He only mistakes it for happiness, the good he seeks.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Happiness, Mistake, Men

Mary Wollstonecraft (2008). “A Vindication of the Rights of Women & a Vindication of the Rights of Men”, Cosimo, Inc.

86 Copy quote
Men, in general, seem to employ their reason to justify prejudices...rather than to root them out.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Men, Roots, Justice

1792 A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, pt.1, ch.1.

29 Copy quote
Women are systematically degraded by receiving the trivial attentions which men think it manly to pay to the sex, when, in fact, men are insultingly supporting their own superiority.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Sex, Women, Thinking

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman ch. 4 (1792)

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But what a weak barrier is truth when it stands in the way of an hypothesis!

Mary Wollstonecraft

Way, Weak, Hypothesis

Mary Wollstonecraft (2013). “Vindication of the Rights of Women”, p.42, Lulu.com

7 Copy quote
Men and women must be educated, in a great degree, by the opinions and manners of the society they live in.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Education, Men, Degrees

Mary Wollstonecraft (1793). “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: With Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects”, p.19

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The mind will ever be unstable that has only prejudices to rest on.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Mind, Prejudice, Unstable

Mary Wollstonecraft (2016). “Delphi Complete Works of Mary Wollstonecraft (Illustrated)”, p.624, Delphi Classics

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Life cannot be seen by an unmoved spectator.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Spectators

Mary Wollstonecraft (1796). “A vindication of the rights of woman: with strictures on political and moral subjects”, p.251

8 Copy quote
Friendship is a serious affection; the most sublime of all affections, because it is founded on principle, and cemented by time.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Sublime, Principles, Serious

Mary Wollstonecraft (2015). “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman”, p.90, Booklassic

33 Copy quote
My own sex, I hope, will excuse me, if I treat them like rational creatures, instead of flattering their fascinating graces, and viewing them as if they were in a state of perpetual childhood, unable to stand alone.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Strength, Sex, Men

Mary Wollstonecraft (1796). “A vindication of the rights of woman: with strictures on political and moral subjects”, p.6

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Some women govern their husbands without degrading themselves, because intellect will always govern.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Husband, Intellect, Degrading

1792 A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, introduction.

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Taught from their infancy that beauty is woman's sceptre, the mind shapes itself to the body, and, roaming round its gilt cage, only seeks to adorn its prison. Men have various employments and pursuits which engage their attention, and give a character to the opening mind; but women, confined to one, and having their thoughts constantly directed to the most insignificant part of themselves, seldom extend their views beyond the triumph of the hour.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Women, Character, Views

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman ch. 3 (1792)

36 Copy quote
The two sexes mutually corrupt and improve each other.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Sex, Two

Mary Wollstonecraft (1796). “A vindication of the rights of woman: with strictures on political and moral subjects”, p.318

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Let us, my dear contemporaries, arise above such narrow prejudices. If wisdom be desirable on its own account, if virtue, to deserve the name, must be founded on knowledge, let us endeavour to strengthen our minds by reflection till our heads become a balance for our hearts.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Heart, Reflection, Names

Mary Wollstonecraft, Janet Todd (2008). “A Vindication of the Rights of Men; A Vindication of the Rights of Woman; An Historical and Moral View of the French Revolution”, p.166, Oxford University Press

22 Copy quote
The being cannot be termed rational or virtuous, who obeys any authority, but that of reason.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Atheism, Literature, Reason

Mary Wollstonecraft (2012). “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman”, p.177, Courier Corporation

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Born: April 27, 1759
Died: September 10, 1797
Occupation: Writer
Cite this Page: Citation

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