--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Few, I believe, have had much affection…" description: "\"“Few, I believe, have had much affection for mankind, who did not first love their parents, their brothers, sisters, and even the domestic brutes, whom..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a1/mary-wollstonecraft-1568_affection_few-i-believe-have-had-much-affection-fo_2641505.jpg" --- # Few, I believe, have had much affection for mankind, who… ![“Few, I believe, have had much affection for mankind, who did not first love their parents, their brothers, sisters, and even the domestic brutes, whom they first played with.” quote by Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a1/mary-wollstonecraft-1568_affection_few-i-believe-have-had-much-affection-fo_2641505.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a1/mary-wollstonecraft-1568_affection_few-i-believe-have-had-much-affection-fo_2641505.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a1/mary-wollstonecraft-1568_affection_few-i-believe-have-had-much-affection-fo_2641505.jpg) > ““Few, I believe, have had much affection for mankind, who did not first love their parents, their brothers, sisters, and even the domestic brutes, whom they first played with.”” [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote suggests that genuine love for humanity stems from early familial bonds and caring for those close to us. **In simple terms:** Love for humanity begins with love for family. Key Takeaway Cultivate empathy starting at home. Themes family empathy humanity relationships Mood reflective thoughtful Type ethical philosophical When to use this quote - parenting - education - community building - conflict resolution Key Concepts Moral development social psychology Questions to Reflect On - How does early family experience shape our view of strangers? - Can empathy be taught without family influence? A Different Perspective It may overlook those who lack family ties yet still act compassionately. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Affection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affection/) [Childhood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/childhood/) [First love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first-love/) [Humanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanity/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society/) [Solidarity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solidarity/) [Upbringing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/upbringing/) ## Related quotes > [Although I believe affection and romance should be shown all year around, it's always smart to have a good plan up your sleeve for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-samuelsson/although-i-believe-affection-and-romance-should-be-shown-all-year/) [Marcus Samuelsson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-samuelsson/) > [When I was a kid, it was always very embarrassing for me if I wet the bed - I was 5 years old. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-ziering/when-i-was-a-kid-it-was-always-very-embarrassing-for-me-if-i-wet-the/) [Ian Ziering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-ziering/) > [I'm still really close with everyone at home and their parents - and their brothers and sisters. 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My two brothers were power and freedom. I was powerlessness and seclusion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-vitti/i-had-very-strict-parents-my-two-brothers-were-power-and-freedom-i/) [Monica Vitti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-vitti/) > [Egypt was tough without our parents. My brothers and sisters had to work day by day, and every time they collected a pay cheque,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luol-deng/egypt-was-tough-without-our-parents-my-brothers-and-sisters-had-to/) [Luol Deng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luol-deng/) > [My mom and dad met at U. Conn., and their lives couldn't have been more different in terms of their upbringing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheo-hodari-coker/my-mom-and-dad-met-at-u-conn-and-their-lives-couldn-t-have-been-more/) [Cheo Hodari Coker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cheo-hodari-coker/) > [I had a very blessed journey with the upbringing I had. When you're working on sets as a stuntman, you have a firsthand account…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ric-roman-waugh/i-had-a-very-blessed-journey-with-the-upbringing-i-had-when-you-re/) [Ric Roman Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ric-roman-waugh/) > [I had a rough upbringing. Group homes. Foster homes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-shamrock/i-had-a-rough-upbringing-group-homes-foster-homes/) [Frank Shamrock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-shamrock/) ## More by Mary Wollstonecraft > [Man preys on man; and you mourn for the idle tapestry that decorated a gothic pillar, and the dronish bell that summoned the fat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/man-preys-on-man-and-you-mourn-for-the-idle-tapestry-that-decorated-a/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [“How much more respectable is the woman who earns her own bread by fulfilling any duty, than the most accomplished beauty!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/how-much-more-respectable-is-the-woman-who-earns-her-own-bread-by/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [I love my man as my fellow; but his scepter, real, or usurped, extends not to me, unless the reason of an individual demands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/i-love-my-man-as-my-fellow-but-his-scepter-real-or-usurped-extends/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [The absurd duty, too often inculcated, of obeying a parent only on account of his being a parent, shackles the mind, and prepares it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/the-absurd-duty-too-often-inculcated-of-obeying-a-parent-only-on/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [Fondness is a poor substitute for friendship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/fondness-is-a-poor-substitute-for-friendship/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [Women have seldom sufficient employment to silence their feelings; a round of little cares, or vain pursuits frittering away all strength of mind and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/women-have-seldom-sufficient-employment-to-silence-their-feelings-a/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [“In this style, argue tyrants of every denomination, from the weak king to the weak father of a family; they are all eager to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/in-this-style-argue-tyrants-of-every-denomination-from-the-weak-king/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [ “If children are to be educated to understand the true principle of patriotism, their mother must be a patriot \[...\]” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/if-children-are-to-be-educated-to-understand-the-true-principle-of/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [If women be educated for dependence; that is, to act according to the will of another fallible being, and submit, right or wrong, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/if-women-be-educated-for-dependence-that-is-to-act-according-to-the/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [Only that education deserves emphatically to be termed cultivation of the mind which teaches young people how to begin to think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/only-that-education-deserves-emphatically-to-be-termed-cultivation-of/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [The beginning is always today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/the-beginning-is-always-today/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [“I wish to show that elegance is inferior to virtue, that the first object of laudable ambition is to obtain a character as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/i-wish-to-show-that-elegance-is-inferior-to-virtue-that-the-first/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [Perhaps the seeds of false-refinement, immorality, and vanity, have ever been shed by the great. Weak, artificial beings, raised above the common wants and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/perhaps-the-seeds-of-false-refinement-immorality-and-vanity-have-ever/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [Make them free, and they will quickly become wise and virtous, as men become more so; for the improvement must be mutual, or the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/make-them-free-and-they-will-quickly-become-wise-and-virtous-as-men/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [The birthright of man ... is such a degree of liberty, civil and religious, as is compatible with the liberty of every other individual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/the-birthright-of-man-is-such-a-degree-of-liberty-civil-and-religious/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) [Explore all 225 Mary Wollstonecraft quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) ## More Affection quotes > [My team and I have reunited two elements that coexist with diffiulty: respect and affection, because when they love you they don't respect you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shakira/my-team-and-i-have-reunited-two-elements-that-coexist-with-diffiulty/) [Shakira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shakira/) > [Needs cause motivation. Deep-rooted desires for esteem, affection, belonging, achievement, self-actualization, power, and control motivate us to push for what we want and need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorii-myers/needs-cause-motivation-deep-rooted-desires-for-esteem-affection/) [Lorii Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorii-myers/) > [“It is to build a house with affection, even as if your beloved were to dwell in that house.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kahlil-gibran/it-is-to-build-a-house-with-affection-even-as-if-your-beloved-were-to/) [Kahlil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kahlil-gibran/) > [In this choice of inheritance we have given to our frame of polity the image of a relation in blood; binding up the constitution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/in-this-choice-of-inheritance-we-have-given-to-our-frame-of-polity/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [I, measuring his affections by my own, Which then most sought where most might not be found, Being one too many by my weary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-measuring-his-affections-by-my-own-which-then-most-sought-where/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [There are a number of qualities which are important for mental peace, but from the little experience I have, I believe that one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/there-are-a-number-of-qualities-which-are-important-for-mental-peace/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [A lost love. Deny it who will, ridicule it, treat it as mere imagination and sentiment, the thing is and will be; and women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinah-maria-murlock-craik/a-lost-love-deny-it-who-will-ridicule-it-treat-it-as-mere-imagination/) [Dinah Maria Murlock Craik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinah-maria-murlock-craik/) > [Affection! Affection is false.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-i/affection-affection-is-false/) [Elizabeth I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-i/) > [We are a spectacular, splendid manifestation of life. We have language. . . . We have affection. We have genes for usefulness, and usefulness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-are-a-spectacular-splendid-manifestation-of-life-we-have-language/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [Listen, I have a great affection and respect for Joe Biden. I think he's been a great vice president. He's taken on a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-axelrod/listen-i-have-a-great-affection-and-respect-for-joe-biden-i-think-he/) [David Axelrod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-axelrod/) > [The still affection of the heart Became an outward breathing type, That into stillness past again, And left a want unknown before; Although the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-lord-tennyson/the-still-affection-of-the-heart-became-an-outward-breathing-type/) [Alfred Lord Tennyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-lord-tennyson/) > [I am persuaded that there is no affection of the human heart more exquisitely pure, than that which is felt by a grateful son…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-more/i-am-persuaded-that-there-is-no-affection-of-the-human-heart-more/) [Hannah More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-more/) > [If you live in a material universe where acquiring things is very important to you, then family is an absolute deterrent to maintaining that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/if-you-live-in-a-material-universe-where-acquiring-things-is-very/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [Our sweetest experiences of affection are meant to be suggestions of that realm which is the home of the heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/our-sweetest-experiences-of-affection-are-meant-to-be-suggestions-of/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [“Georgia O’Keeffe moved to rural New Mexico, from which she would sign her letters to the people she loved, “from the faraway nearby.” It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/georgia-o-keeffe-moved-to-rural-new-mexico-from-which-she-would-sign/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) [Browse all 2,465 Affection quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affection/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Few, I believe, have had much affection for mankind, who did not first love their parents, their brothers, sisters, and even the domestic brutes, whom they first played with.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mary Wollstonecraft" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/few-i-believe-have-had-much-affection-for-mankind-who-did-not-first/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Affection" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/few-i-believe-have-had-much-affection-for-mankind-who-did-not-first/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a1/mary-wollstonecraft-1568_affection_few-i-believe-have-had-much-affection-fo_2641505.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a1/mary-wollstonecraft-1568_affection_few-i-believe-have-had-much-affection-fo_2641505.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a1/mary-wollstonecraft-1568_affection_few-i-believe-have-had-much-affection-fo_2641505.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Few, I believe, have had much affection for mankind, who did not first love their parents, their brothers…” — Mary Wollstonecraft", "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": "Mary Wollstonecraft", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Few, I believe, have had much...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/few-i-believe-have-had-much-affection-for-mankind-who-did-not-first/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/few-i-believe-have-had-much-affection-for-mankind-who-did-not-first/#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 } } ] } ```