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.

53 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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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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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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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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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.

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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)

82 Copy quote
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.

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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

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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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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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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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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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The appetites will rule if the mind is vacant.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Mind, Appetite, Vacant

Mary Wollstonecraft (1988). “A vindication of the rights of woman: an authoritative text, backgrounds, the Wollstonecraft debate, criticism”, W. W. Norton & Company

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Judicious books enlarge the mind and improve the heart.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Book, Heart, Mind

Mary Wollstonecraft (2016). “Delphi Complete Works of Mary Wollstonecraft (Illustrated)”, p.314, Delphi Classics

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True happiness must arise from well-regulated affections, and an affection includes a duty.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Happiness, Affection, Arise

Mary Wollstonecraft (2013). “Vindication of the Rights of Women”, p.156, Lulu.com

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I never wanted but your heart--that gone, you have nothing more to give.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Heartbreak, Heartbroken, Giving

Mary Wollstonecraft, Sir Charles ALDIS (1803). “A Defence of the character and conduct of ... Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin ... In a series of letters to a lady. MS. notes [by Sir C. Aldis].”, p.127

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The absurd duty, too often inculcated, of obeying a parent only on account of his being a parent, shackles the mind, and prepares it for a slavish submission to any power but reason.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Parent, Mind, Reason

Mary Wollstonecraft (2015). “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman”, p.190, Booklassic

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To be a good mother, a woman must have sense, and that independence of mind which few women possess who are taught to depend entirely on their husbands. Meek wives are, in general, foolish mothers; wanting their children to love them best, and take their part, in secret, against the father, who is held up as a scarecrow.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Mother, Children, Husband

Mary Wollstonecraft (2015). “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman”, p.188, Booklassic

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The divine right of husbands, like the divine right of kings, may, it is hoped, in this enlightened age, be contested without danger.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Kings, Husband, Afterlife

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

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Till women are more rationally educated, the progress in human virtue and improvement in knowledge must receive continual checks.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Justice, Diversity, Progress

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

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

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