--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Stick to the needle, learn shirt-making…" description: "\"“Stick to the needle, learn shirt-making and gown-making and piecrust-making, and you will be a clever woman some day.”\" — Charlotte Bronte" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b9/charlotte-bronte-144_clever-woman_stick-to-the-needle-learn-shirt-making-a_1058554.jpg" --- # Stick to the needle, learn shirt-making and gown-making… ![“Stick to the needle, learn shirt-making and gown-making and piecrust-making, and you will be a clever woman some day.” quote by Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b9/charlotte-bronte-144_clever-woman_stick-to-the-needle-learn-shirt-making-a_1058554.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b9/charlotte-bronte-144_clever-woman_stick-to-the-needle-learn-shirt-making-a_1058554.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b9/charlotte-bronte-144_clever-woman_stick-to-the-needle-learn-shirt-making-a_1058554.jpg) > ““Stick to the needle, learn shirt-making and gown-making and piecrust-making, and you will be a clever woman some day.”” [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Learning practical skills builds competence and confidence, leading to future success. **In simple terms:** Skill learning leads to cleverness. Key Takeaway Practice useful crafts regularly. Themes education skill‑building empowerment Mood inspirational practical Type advice motivational When to use this quote - home economics - career development - personal growth - entrepreneurship Key Concepts feminism self‑reliance Questions to Reflect On - Which skill will you master first? - How does skill mastery affect your confidence? A Different Perspective Focus on one skill at a time to avoid overwhelm. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Clever woman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clever-woman/) [Learn Shirt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learn-shirt-2571769/) [Making Clever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/making-clever-2571771/) [Needle Learn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needle-learn-2571770/) [Shirt Making](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shirt-making-2571772/) ## Related quotes > [Making clever speeches takes a lot of work and a lot of time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elaine-stritch/making-clever-speeches-takes-a-lot-of-work-and-a-lot-of-time/) [Elaine Stritch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elaine-stritch/) > [“Remember: a clever woman never lets a man know how cleaver she is”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lesley-downer/remember-a-clever-woman-never-lets-a-man-know-how-cleaver-she-is/) [Lesley Downer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lesley-downer/) > [“Do you really not know that to praise a woman's mind is to abuse her? Is everyone not convinced that where there's cleverness there's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karolina-pavlova/do-you-really-not-know-that-to-praise-a-woman-s-mind-is-to-abuse-her/) [Karolina Pavlova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karolina-pavlova/) > [The silliest woman can manage a clever man; but it needs a very clever woman to manage a fool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudyard-kipling/the-silliest-woman-can-manage-a-clever-man-but-it-needs-a-very-clever/) [Rudyard Kipling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudyard-kipling/) > [“Catherine was clever, but even a clever woman misses some of the strange corridors in a man.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/catherine-was-clever-but-even-a-clever-woman-misses-some-of-the/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“Then says Mrs. Hauksbee to me – she looked a trifle faded and jaded in the lamplight: “Take my word for it, the silliest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudyard-kipling/then-says-mrs-hauksbee-to-me-she-looked-a-trifle-faded-and-jaded-in/) [Rudyard Kipling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudyard-kipling/) > [Good women are rarely clever and clever women are rarely good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adah-isaacs-menken/good-women-are-rarely-clever-and-clever-women-are-rarely-good/) [Adah Isaacs Menken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adah-isaacs-menken/) > [“For the male sickness of self-contempt, the surest cure is to be loved by a clever woman”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/for-the-male-sickness-of-self-contempt-the-surest-cure-is-to-be-loved/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [The surest aid in combating the male's disease of self-contempt is to be loved by a clever woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-surest-aid-in-combating-the-male-s-disease-of-self-contempt-is-to/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [the world is not always kind to a clever woman even when she is visibly known to be earning her own living. There are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-corelli/the-world-is-not-always-kind-to-a-clever-woman-even-when-she-is/) [Marie Corelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-corelli/) > [“You'll be happy if you'll remember that men don't change much. Women do. Women adapt themselves, and if you think that means they lose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-cadell/you-ll-be-happy-if-you-ll-remember-that-men-don-t-change-much-women/) [Elizabeth Cadell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-cadell/) > [Cleopatra stood at one of the most dangerous intersections in history; that of women and power. Clever women, Euripides had warned hundreds of years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/cleopatra-stood-at-one-of-the-most-dangerous-intersections-in-history/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [My wife is a very clever woman. She knows when to say something and when to bite her tongue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gino-d-acampo/my-wife-is-a-very-clever-woman-she-knows-when-to-say-something-and/) [Gino D'Acampo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gino-d-acampo/) > [When a man wants a mystery, it is generally better to leave him mystified. Nobody loves a clever woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philippa-gregory/when-a-man-wants-a-mystery-it-is-generally-better-to-leave-him/) [Philippa Gregory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philippa-gregory/) > [“shook hands very cordially; and yet I always feel him shrinking sensitively from me, as a woman, a clever woman, an up to date…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/shook-hands-very-cordially-and-yet-i-always-feel-him-shrinking/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) ## More by Charlotte Bronte > [When we are struck at without a reason, we should strike back again very hard; I am sure we should - so hard as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/when-we-are-struck-at-without-a-reason-we-should-strike-back-again/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [My God, whose son, as on this night, took on Him the form of man, and for man vouchsafed to suffer and bleed, controls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/my-god-whose-son-as-on-this-night-took-on-him-the-form-of-man-and-for/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [“A deal of people, Miss, are for trusting all to Providence; but I say Providence will not dispense with the means, though He often…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/a-deal-of-people-miss-are-for-trusting-all-to-providence-but-i-say/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [“This night is not calm; the equinox still struggles in its storms. The wild rains of the day are abated; the great single cloud…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/this-night-is-not-calm-the-equinox-still-struggles-in-its-storms-the/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [“How dare I, Mrs Reed? How dare I? Because it is the truth. You think I have no feelings, and that I can do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/how-dare-i-mrs-reed-how-dare-i-because-it-is-the-truth-you-think-i/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [“If men could see us as we really are, they would be a little amazed; but the cleverest, the acutest men are often under…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/if-men-could-see-us-as-we-really-are-they-would-be-a-little-amazed/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [If all the world hated you and believed you wicked, while your own conscience approved of you and absolved you from guilt, you would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/if-all-the-world-hated-you-and-believed-you-wicked-while-your-own/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity, or registering wrongs. With this creed, revenge never worries my heart, degradation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/life-appears-to-me-too-short-to-be-spent-in-nursing-animosity-or/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [Poverty, for me, is synonymous with degradation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/poverty-for-me-is-synonymous-with-degradation/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [When his first-born was put into his arms, he could see that the boy had inherited his own eyes, as they once were -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/when-his-first-born-was-put-into-his-arms-he-could-see-that-the-boy/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [Talented people almost always know full well the excellence that is in them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/talented-people-almost-always-know-full-well-the-excellence-that-is/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [“Not one spark of spirit, not one symptom of resistance, would they have shown till the hand of the Corsican bandit had grasped that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/not-one-spark-of-spirit-not-one-symptom-of-resistance-would-they-have/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [“Love can excuse anything except meanness; but meanness kills love, cripples even natural affection; without esteem true love cannot exist.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/love-can-excuse-anything-except-meanness-but-meanness-kills-love/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [I think you will learn to be natural with me, as I find it impossible to be conventional with you](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/i-think-you-will-learn-to-be-natural-with-me-as-i-find-it-impossible/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [“You are no ruin sir--no lighting-struck tree: you are green and vigorous. Plants will grow about your roots, whether you ask them or not,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/you-are-no-ruin-sir-no-lighting-struck-tree-you-are-green-and/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) [Explore all 1,082 Charlotte Bronte quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) ## More Clever woman quotes > [“Remember: a clever woman never lets a man know how cleaver she is”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lesley-downer/remember-a-clever-woman-never-lets-a-man-know-how-cleaver-she-is/) [Lesley Downer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lesley-downer/) > [When a man wants a mystery, it is generally better to leave him mystified. Nobody loves a clever woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philippa-gregory/when-a-man-wants-a-mystery-it-is-generally-better-to-leave-him/) [Philippa Gregory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philippa-gregory/) > [My wife is a very clever woman. She knows when to say something and when to bite her tongue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gino-d-acampo/my-wife-is-a-very-clever-woman-she-knows-when-to-say-something-and/) [Gino D'Acampo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gino-d-acampo/) > [Cleopatra stood at one of the most dangerous intersections in history; that of women and power. Clever women, Euripides had warned hundreds of years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/cleopatra-stood-at-one-of-the-most-dangerous-intersections-in-history/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [“You'll be happy if you'll remember that men don't change much. Women do. Women adapt themselves, and if you think that means they lose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-cadell/you-ll-be-happy-if-you-ll-remember-that-men-don-t-change-much-women/) [Elizabeth Cadell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-cadell/) > [the world is not always kind to a clever woman even when she is visibly known to be earning her own living. There are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-corelli/the-world-is-not-always-kind-to-a-clever-woman-even-when-she-is/) [Marie Corelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-corelli/) > [The surest aid in combating the male's disease of self-contempt is to be loved by a clever woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-surest-aid-in-combating-the-male-s-disease-of-self-contempt-is-to/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“For the male sickness of self-contempt, the surest cure is to be loved by a clever woman”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/for-the-male-sickness-of-self-contempt-the-surest-cure-is-to-be-loved/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Good women are rarely clever and clever women are rarely good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adah-isaacs-menken/good-women-are-rarely-clever-and-clever-women-are-rarely-good/) [Adah Isaacs Menken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adah-isaacs-menken/) > [“Then says Mrs. Hauksbee to me – she looked a trifle faded and jaded in the lamplight: “Take my word for it, the silliest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudyard-kipling/then-says-mrs-hauksbee-to-me-she-looked-a-trifle-faded-and-jaded-in/) [Rudyard Kipling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudyard-kipling/) > [“Catherine was clever, but even a clever woman misses some of the strange corridors in a man.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/catherine-was-clever-but-even-a-clever-woman-misses-some-of-the/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [The silliest woman can manage a clever man; but it needs a very clever woman to manage a fool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudyard-kipling/the-silliest-woman-can-manage-a-clever-man-but-it-needs-a-very-clever/) [Rudyard Kipling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudyard-kipling/) > [“Do you really not know that to praise a woman's mind is to abuse her? Is everyone not convinced that where there's cleverness there's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karolina-pavlova/do-you-really-not-know-that-to-praise-a-woman-s-mind-is-to-abuse-her/) [Karolina Pavlova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karolina-pavlova/) > [“shook hands very cordially; and yet I always feel him shrinking sensitively from me, as a woman, a clever woman, an up to date…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/shook-hands-very-cordially-and-yet-i-always-feel-him-shrinking/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [She is very clever, too clever for a woman. She lacks the indefinable charm of weakness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/she-is-very-clever-too-clever-for-a-woman-she-lacks-the-indefinable/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) [Browse all 25 Clever woman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clever-woman/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Stick to the needle, learn shirt-making and gown-making and piecrust-making, and you will be a clever woman some day.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Charlotte Bronte" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/stick-to-the-needle-learn-shirt-making-and-gown-making-and-piecrust/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Clever woman" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/stick-to-the-needle-learn-shirt-making-and-gown-making-and-piecrust/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b9/charlotte-bronte-144_clever-woman_stick-to-the-needle-learn-shirt-making-a_1058554.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b9/charlotte-bronte-144_clever-woman_stick-to-the-needle-learn-shirt-making-a_1058554.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b9/charlotte-bronte-144_clever-woman_stick-to-the-needle-learn-shirt-making-a_1058554.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Stick to the needle, learn shirt-making and gown-making and piecrust-making, and you will be a clever woman…” — Charlotte Bronte", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Charlotte Bronte", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Stick to the needle, learn shirt-making...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/stick-to-the-needle-learn-shirt-making-and-gown-making-and-piecrust/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/stick-to-the-needle-learn-shirt-making-and-gown-making-and-piecrust/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```