“I wish to show that elegance is inferior to virtue, that the first object of laudable ambition is to obtain a character… — Mary Wollstonecraft Copy Share Image
Perhaps the seeds of false-refinement, immorality, and vanity, have ever been shed by the great. Weak, artificial beings, raised above the common… — Mary Wollstonecraft Copy Share Image
Make them free, and they will quickly become wise and virtous, as men become more so; for the improvement must be mutual,… — Mary Wollstonecraft Copy Share Image
Situation seems to be the mould in which men's characters are formed. — Mary Wollstonecraft Copy Share Image
“Surely there can be but one rule of right, if morality has an eternal foundation, and whoever sacrifices virtue, strictly so called,… — Mary Wollstonecraft Copy Share Image
The more equality there is established among men, the more virtue and happiness will reign in society. — Mary Wollstonecraft Copy Share Image
“True sensibility, the sensibility which is the auxiliary of virtue, and the soul of genius, is in society so occupied with the… — Mary Wollstonecraft Copy Share Image
In every age there has been a stream of popular opinion that has carried all before it, and given a family character,… — Mary Wollstonecraft Copy Share Image
Men and women must be educated, in a great degree, by the opinions and manners of the society they live in. In… — Mary Wollstonecraft Copy Share Image
In fact, it is a farce to call any being virtuous whose virtues do not result from the exercise of its own… — Mary Wollstonecraft Copy Share Image
“Besides, the woman who strengthens her body and exercises her mind will, by managing her family and practising various virtues, become the… — Mary Wollstonecraft Copy Share Image
“If there is but one criterion of morals, but one archetype for man, women appear to be suspended by destiny, according to… — Mary Wollstonecraft Copy Share Image
The flexible muscles growing daily more rigid give character to the countenance ; that is, they trace the operations of the mind… — Mary Wollstonecraft Copy Share Image
The same energy of character which renders a man a daring villain would have rendered him useful in society, had that society… — Mary Wollstonecraft Copy Share Image
“Why must the female mind be tainted by coquetish arts to gratify the sensualist, and prevent love from subsiding into friendship or… — Mary Wollstonecraft Copy Share Image
There must be more equality established in society, or morality will never gain ground, and this virtuous equakity will not rest firmly… — Mary Wollstonecraft Copy Share Image
Men neglect the duties incumbent on man, yet are treated like demi-gods; religion is also separated from morality by a ceremonial veil,… — Mary Wollstonecraft Copy Share Image
And this homage to women's attractions has distorted their understanding tosuch an extent that almost all the civilized women of the present… — Mary Wollstonecraft Copy Share Image
An air of fashion, which is but a badge of slavery ... proves that the soul has not a strong individual character. — Mary Wollstonecraft Copy Share Image
When poverty is more disgraceful than even vice, is not morality cut to the quick? — Mary Wollstonecraft Copy Share Image
“Noble morality! and consistent with the cautious prudence of a little soul that cannot extend its views beyond the present minute division… — Mary Wollstonecraft Copy Share Image
Modesty is the graceful, calm virtue of maturity; bashfulness the charm of vivacious youth. — Mary Wollstonecraft Copy Share Image
“A virtuous man may have a choleric or a sanguine constitution, be gay or grave, unreproved, be firm till he is almost… — Mary Wollstonecraft Copy Share Image
Women deluded by these sentiments, sometimes boast of their weakness, cunningly obtaining power by playing on the weakness of men; and they… — Mary Wollstonecraft Copy Share Image
Man preys on man; and you mourn for the idle tapestry that decorated a gothic pillar, and the dronish bell that summoned the fat… — Mary Wollstonecraft Copy Share Image
“How much more respectable is the woman who earns her own bread by fulfilling any duty, than the most accomplished beauty!” — Mary Wollstonecraft Copy Share Image
I love my man as my fellow; but his scepter, real, or usurped, extends not to me, unless the reason of an individual demands… — Mary Wollstonecraft Copy Share Image
The absurd duty, too often inculcated, of obeying a parent only on account of his being a parent, shackles the mind, and prepares it… — Mary Wollstonecraft Copy Share Image
Women have seldom sufficient employment to silence their feelings; a round of little cares, or vain pursuits frittering away all strength of mind and… — Mary Wollstonecraft Copy Share Image
“In this style, argue tyrants of every denomination, from the weak king to the weak father of a family; they are all eager to… — Mary Wollstonecraft Copy Share Image
“If children are to be educated to understand the true principle of patriotism, their mother must be a patriot [...]” — Mary Wollstonecraft Copy Share Image
If women be educated for dependence; that is, to act according to the will of another fallible being, and submit, right or wrong, to… — Mary Wollstonecraft Copy Share Image
Only that education deserves emphatically to be termed cultivation of the mind which teaches young people how to begin to think. — Mary Wollstonecraft Copy Share Image
“I wish to show that elegance is inferior to virtue, that the first object of laudable ambition is to obtain a character as a… — Mary Wollstonecraft Copy Share Image
