--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A fair and generous woman is (at best)…" description: "\"A fair and generous woman is (at best) respected, but seldom loved.\" — Shulamith Firestone" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9b/shulamith-firestone-12980_generous_a-fair-and-generous-woman-is-at-best-res_848944.jpg" --- # A fair and generous woman is (at best) respected, but… ![“A fair and generous woman is (at best) respected, but seldom loved.” quote by Shulamith Firestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9b/shulamith-firestone-12980_generous_a-fair-and-generous-woman-is-at-best-res_848944.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9b/shulamith-firestone-12980_generous_a-fair-and-generous-woman-is-at-best-res_848944.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9b/shulamith-firestone-12980_generous_a-fair-and-generous-woman-is-at-best-res_848944.jpg) > “A fair and generous woman is (at best) respected, but seldom loved.” [Shulamith Firestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shulamith-firestone/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Societal expectations often value women for utility over emotional connection, leading to respect without deep affection. **In simple terms:** Women may be respected but rarely loved. Key Takeaway Seek authentic relationships beyond roles. Themes gender society respect love relationships Mood reflective critical Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - workplace - family gatherings - friendships - romantic partnerships Key Concepts feminist theory social expectations emotional labor Questions to Reflect On - How can we foster love that goes beyond respect? - What societal changes would shift this dynamic? A Different Perspective Respect can be superficial if underlying biases persist. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Generous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generous/) [Kindness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kindness/) [Respect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/respect/) ## Related quotes > [“She wasn’t nice. She was rarely polite. And no one who knew her well would have called her a generous woman.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-schenkar/she-wasn-t-nice-she-was-rarely-polite-and-no-one-who-knew-her-well/) [Joan Schenkar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-schenkar/) > [“Be fair before being generous, be human before being fair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fern-n-caballero/be-fair-before-being-generous-be-human-before-being-fair/) Fernán Caballero > [I'm married to a very generous woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-a-cohen/i-m-married-to-a-very-generous-woman/) [Steven A. Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-a-cohen/) > [“There wasn’t a hint of condescension in either her expression or her voice. No pity, no regret. She was completely sincere. It hit him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-mayberry/there-wasn-t-a-hint-of-condescension-in-either-her-expression-or-her/) [Sarah Mayberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-mayberry/) > [Raising boys has made me a more generous woman than I really am. Undoubtedly, there are other routes to learning the wishes and dreams…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-blakely/raising-boys-has-made-me-a-more-generous-woman-than-i-really-am/) [Mary Blakely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-blakely/) > [“You appear infinitely generous, but you are a woman of infinite passion, in hate as well as love.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fumiko-enchi/you-appear-infinitely-generous-but-you-are-a-woman-of-infinite/) [Fumiko Enchi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fumiko-enchi/) > [The more independent you want to be, the more generous you must be with yourself as a woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-von-furstenberg/the-more-independent-you-want-to-be-the-more-generous-you-must-be/) [Diane von Furstenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-von-furstenberg/) > [Wisdom is the art of being courageous and generous with the unknown.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/wisdom-is-the-art-of-being-courageous-and-generous-with-the-unknown/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I have always been generous because I know that I have done well in life and I believe it is part of my duty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-turnbull/i-have-always-been-generous-because-i-know-that-i-have-done-well-in/) [Malcolm Turnbull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-turnbull/) > [“life is really generous to those who pursue their Personal Legend”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/life-is-really-generous-to-those-who-pursue-their-personal-legend/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [The generous mind adds dignity to every act, and nothing misbecomes it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plutarch/the-generous-mind-adds-dignity-to-every-act-and-nothing-misbecomes-it/) [Plutarch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plutarch/) > [Be relentlessly generous, without focusing on when it will come back to you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/be-relentlessly-generous-without-focusing-on-when-it-will-come-back/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [If you're a generous person, when you get money and fame, you're going to be more generous. If you're a sharer, you're going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-harvey/if-you-re-a-generous-person-when-you-get-money-and-fame-you-re-going/) [Steve Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-harvey/) > [Generous in spirit, richly poetic, and packed with memorable characters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-millman/generous-in-spirit-richly-poetic-and-packed-with-memorable-characters/) [Lawrence Millman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-millman/) > [If you take all the food aid, America is by far the most generous country. If you take the direct aid, we're very generous.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/if-you-take-all-the-food-aid-america-is-by-far-the-most-generous/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) ## More by Shulamith Firestone > [ \[U\]nless oppressed groups stick together, and on alliances of self interest rather than do-goodism; nothing can be accomplished in the long run to dismantle… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shulamith-firestone/u-nless-oppressed-groups-stick-together-and-on-alliances-of-self/) [Shulamith Firestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shulamith-firestone/) > [the myth of childhood happiness flourishes so wildly not because it satisfies the needs of children but because it satisfies the needs of adults.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shulamith-firestone/the-myth-of-childhood-happiness-flourishes-so-wildly-not-because-it/) [Shulamith Firestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shulamith-firestone/) > [Emancipated' women found out that the honesty, generosity, and camaraderie of men was a lie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shulamith-firestone/emancipated-women-found-out-that-the-honesty-generosity-and/) [Shulamith Firestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shulamith-firestone/) > [“...childbirth is at best necessary and tolerable. It is not fun. (Like shitting a pumpkin, a friend of mine told me when I inquired…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shulamith-firestone/childbirth-is-at-best-necessary-and-tolerable-it-is-not-fun-like/) [Shulamith Firestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shulamith-firestone/) > [the 'natural' is not necessarily a 'human' value.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shulamith-firestone/the-natural-is-not-necessarily-a-human-value/) [Shulamith Firestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shulamith-firestone/) > [We should keep in mind that Revolutions anywhere are always glad to use any help they can get, even from women. But unless women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shulamith-firestone/we-should-keep-in-mind-that-revolutions-anywhere-are-always-glad-to/) [Shulamith Firestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shulamith-firestone/) > [“For the real issue under all the fights about other women is the man is unable to commit himself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shulamith-firestone/for-the-real-issue-under-all-the-fights-about-other-women-is-the-man/) [Shulamith Firestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shulamith-firestone/) > [Men are thinking, writing, and creating, because women were pouring their energy into those men; women are not creating culture because they are occupied…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shulamith-firestone/men-are-thinking-writing-and-creating-because-women-were-pouring/) [Shulamith Firestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shulamith-firestone/) > [The personal is political.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shulamith-firestone/the-personal-is-political/) [Shulamith Firestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shulamith-firestone/) > [All men are selfish, brutal and inconsiderate--and I wish I could find one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shulamith-firestone/all-men-are-selfish-brutal-and-inconsiderate-and-i-wish-i-could-find/) [Shulamith Firestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shulamith-firestone/) > [“Believe me, if all wives whose husbands had affairs left them, we would only have divorced women in this country.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shulamith-firestone/believe-me-if-all-wives-whose-husbands-had-affairs-left-them-we-would/) [Shulamith Firestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shulamith-firestone/) > [Women were the slave class that maintained the species in order to free the other half for the business of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shulamith-firestone/women-were-the-slave-class-that-maintained-the-species-in-order-to/) [Shulamith Firestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shulamith-firestone/) > [But in psychoanalysis there are no unimportant thoughts; there are only thoughts that pretend to be unimportant in order to not be told.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shulamith-firestone/but-in-psychoanalysis-there-are-no-unimportant-thoughts-there-are/) [Shulamith Firestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shulamith-firestone/) > [Just as the end goal of socialist revolution was not only the elimination of the economic class privilege but of the economic class distinction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shulamith-firestone/just-as-the-end-goal-of-socialist-revolution-was-not-only-the/) [Shulamith Firestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shulamith-firestone/) > [“It is only the failure of my plots I fear.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shulamith-firestone/it-is-only-the-failure-of-my-plots-i-fear/) [Shulamith Firestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shulamith-firestone/) [Explore all 49 Shulamith Firestone quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shulamith-firestone/) ## More Generous quotes > [Plenty of white space and generous line spacing,and don't make the type size too miserly. Then you will be assured of a product fit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giambattista-bodoni/plenty-of-white-space-and-generous-line-spacing-and-don-t-make-the/) Giambattista Bodoni > [Ye youths and virgins, when your generous blood Has drunk the warmth of fifteen summers, now The loves invite; now to new rapture wakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-armstrong/ye-youths-and-virgins-when-your-generous-blood-has-drunk-the-warmth/) [John Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-armstrong/) > [Friendship, "the wine of life," should, like a well-stocked cellar, be continually renewed; and it is consolatory to think, that although we can seldom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/friendship-the-wine-of-life-should-like-a-well-stocked-cellar-be/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [If you take all the food aid, America is by far the most generous country. If you take the direct aid, we're very generous.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/if-you-take-all-the-food-aid-america-is-by-far-the-most-generous/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [“THE UNFORGIVEN Tell me if you've ever had to deal with these kinds of people: The kind who take and don't give. The kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzy-kassem/the-unforgiven-tell-me-if-you-ve-ever-had-to-deal-with-these-kinds-of/) [Suzy Kassem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzy-kassem/) > [Generous in spirit, richly poetic, and packed with memorable characters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-millman/generous-in-spirit-richly-poetic-and-packed-with-memorable-characters/) [Lawrence Millman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-millman/) > [As most New Yorkers have done, I have given serious and generous thought to the state of my apartment should I get killed during…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sloane-crosley/as-most-new-yorkers-have-done-i-have-given-serious-and-generous/) [Sloane Crosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sloane-crosley/) > [Love is the key to the mystery. Love by its very nature is not selfish, but generous. It seeks not its own, but the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/love-is-the-key-to-the-mystery-love-by-its-very-nature-is-not-selfish/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [SCIENCE! thou fair effusive ray From the great source of mental Day, Free, generous, and refin'd! Descend with all thy treasures fraught, Illumine each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-akenside/science-thou-fair-effusive-ray-from-the-great-source-of-mental-day/) [Mark Akenside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-akenside/) > [The American people are incredibly generous and even playful when you open yourself up and feed the media beast until it goes away satisfied.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/krystal-ball/the-american-people-are-incredibly-generous-and-even-playful-when-you/) [Krystal Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/krystal-ball/) > [If you're a generous person, when you get money and fame, you're going to be more generous. If you're a sharer, you're going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-harvey/if-you-re-a-generous-person-when-you-get-money-and-fame-you-re-going/) [Steve Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-harvey/) > [Be relentlessly generous, without focusing on when it will come back to you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/be-relentlessly-generous-without-focusing-on-when-it-will-come-back/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [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/) > [In terms of the unemployed, of which we have over a million-and-a-half, don't feel particularly bad for many of these people. They don't feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-harper/in-terms-of-the-unemployed-of-which-we-have-over-a-million-and-a-half/) [Stephen Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-harper/) > [Precise, graceful, and generous, the poems in SuperLoop, seem to be born out of a deep, careful attention and a profound compassion. Sometimes the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ada-limon/precise-graceful-and-generous-the-poems-in-superloop-seem-to-be-born/) [Ada Limon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ada-limon/) [Browse all 1,450 Generous quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generous/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A fair and generous woman is (at best) respected, but seldom loved.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Shulamith Firestone" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shulamith-firestone/a-fair-and-generous-woman-is-at-best-respected-but-seldom-loved/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Generous" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shulamith-firestone/a-fair-and-generous-woman-is-at-best-respected-but-seldom-loved/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9b/shulamith-firestone-12980_generous_a-fair-and-generous-woman-is-at-best-res_848944.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9b/shulamith-firestone-12980_generous_a-fair-and-generous-woman-is-at-best-res_848944.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9b/shulamith-firestone-12980_generous_a-fair-and-generous-woman-is-at-best-res_848944.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A fair and generous woman is (at best) respected, but seldom loved.” — Shulamith Firestone", "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": "Shulamith Firestone", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shulamith-firestone/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A fair and generous woman is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shulamith-firestone/a-fair-and-generous-woman-is-at-best-respected-but-seldom-loved/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shulamith-firestone/a-fair-and-generous-woman-is-at-best-respected-but-seldom-loved/#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 } } ] } ```