Advantage Quote by Stacy Schiff
“Cleopatra had one great advantage. She lived at a time when female sovereigns were not anomalies. And when women enjoyed rights they would not again enjoy for another 2,000 years. You could call them early feminists, if I may use a dirty word.”
About This Quote
Source Article: The New Yorker, 2021
She notes Cleopatra’s rare power as an early feminist example, highlighting a long gap before women regained rights.
In simple terms: Cleopatra was an early feminist, but rights vanished for 2000 years.
Key Takeaway
Learn from historical female leadership.
Themes
history
gender
power
Mood
analytical
hopeful
Type
historical
educational
When to use this quote
- education curricula
- women’s rights activism
- leadership training
Key Concepts
feminism
political agency
Questions to Reflect On
- How did Cleopatra’s era differ?
- What caused the long rights gap?
A Different Perspective
May oversimplify complex history.
![“[Cleopatra's] power has been made to derive from her sexuality, for obvious reason; as one of Caesar's murderers had noted, 'How much more attention people pay to their fears than to their memories!' It has always been preferable to attribute a woman's success to her beauty rather than to her…” quote by Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/3cd/stacy-schiff-7881_life_cleopatra-s-power-has-been-made-to-deriv_1540427.jpg)
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![“Next came the Patent laws. These began in England in 1624; and, in this country, with the adoption of our constitution. Before then [these?], any man might instantly use what another had invented; so that the inventor had no special advantage from his own invention. The patent system changed this…” quote by Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/449/abraham-lincoln-88_adoption_next-came-the-patent-laws-these-began-in_1828.jpg)
