--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is a great line of women stretching…" description: "\"There is a great line of women stretching out behind you into the past, and you have to seek them out and find them in yourself and be conscious of the..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c1d/doris-lessing-501_behind-you_there-is-a-great-line-of-women-stretchin_2932327.png" --- # There is a great line of women stretching out behind you… ![“There is a great line of women stretching out behind you into the past, and you have to seek them out and find them in yourself and be conscious of them.” quote by Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c1d/doris-lessing-501_behind-you_there-is-a-great-line-of-women-stretchin_2932327.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c1d/doris-lessing-501_behind-you_there-is-a-great-line-of-women-stretchin_2932327.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c1d/doris-lessing-501_behind-you_there-is-a-great-line-of-women-stretchin_2932327.png) > “There is a great line of women stretching out behind you into the past, and you have to seek them out and find them in yourself and be conscious of them.” [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Women’s histories shape identity; recognizing past women empowers personal consciousness. **In simple terms:** Past women empower us. Key Takeaway Honor ancestral women’s contributions. Themes women history identity Mood reflective empowering Type literary feminist When to use this quote - family storytelling - cultural heritage projects - mentorship programs Key Concepts feminist theory generational memory Questions to Reflect On - How can you integrate ancestral lessons today? - What challenges arise when honoring forgotten women? A Different Perspective May idealize past without critique. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Stretching](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stretching/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/women/) ## Related quotes > [Then I turned to him commanding That he go the way he came, whence he came. 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Family members know they have the freedom to go off on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-brothers/strong-families-use-the-word-we-a-lot-but-i-is-never-forgotten-family/) [Joyce Brothers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-brothers/) ## More by Doris Lessing > [Some books are not read in the right way because they have skipped a stage of opinion, assume a crystallization of information in society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/some-books-are-not-read-in-the-right-way-because-they-have-skipped-a/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“In the morning, when she wishes me to wake, she crouches on my chest, and pats my face with her paw. Or, if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/in-the-morning-when-she-wishes-me-to-wake-she-crouches-on-my-chest/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [You know, whenever women make imaginary female kingdoms in literature, they are always very permissive, to use the jargon word, and easy and generous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/you-know-whenever-women-make-imaginary-female-kingdoms-in-literature/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [There is only one real sin and that is to persuade oneself that the second best is anything but second best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/there-is-only-one-real-sin-and-that-is-to-persuade-oneself-that-the/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“She was using the water as she had used the fruit earlier—to calm herself, to assure herself of the possibility of normality. 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I've been much happier unmarried than married.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/i-do-not-think-that-marriage-is-one-of-my-talents-i-ve-been-much/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [I haven't got the energy to write now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/i-haven-t-got-the-energy-to-write-now/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [What really fascinates me is this need that is so strong now that if you read a work of the imagination you instantly have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/what-really-fascinates-me-is-this-need-that-is-so-strong-now-that-if/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“The charge that the United Nations are using bacteriological warfare in Korea cannot be dismissed merely because it would be insane.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/the-charge-that-the-united-nations-are-using-bacteriological-warfare/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [What I did have, which others perhaps didn't, was a capacity for sticking at it, which really is the point, not the talent at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/what-i-did-have-which-others-perhaps-didn-t-was-a-capacity-for/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [The human community is evolving... . 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