An idea built the wall of separation between the sexes, and an idea will crumble it to dust. Sarah Moore Grimke More Quotes by Sarah Moore Grimke More Quotes From Sarah Moore Grimke I ask no favors for my sex, I surrender not our claim to equality. All I ask of our brethren is that they will take their feet from off our necks, and permit us to stand upright on the ground which God has designed us to occupy. Sarah Moore Grimke feet justice sex I know nothing of man's rights, or woman's rights; human rights are all that I recognize. Sarah Moore Grimke powerful rights men I am persuaded that the rights of woman, like the rights of slaves, need only be examined to be understood and asserted. Sarah Moore Grimke slave rights needs whatsoever it is morally right for a man to do, it is morally right for a woman to do. Sarah Moore Grimke morality men All history attests that man has subjected woman to his will, used her as a means to promote his selfish gratification, to minister to his sensual pleasures, to be instrumental in promoting his comfort; but never has he desired to elevate her to that rank she was created to fill. He has done all he could to debase and enslave her mind; and now he looks triumphantly on the ruin he has wrought, and say, the being he has thus deeply injured is his inferior. Sarah Moore Grimke selfish men mean The virtue of female slaves is wholly at the mercy of irresponsible tyrants, and women are bought and sold in our slave markets, to gratify the brutal lust of those who bear the name of Christians. Sarah Moore Grimke tyrants christian names There has been a comparatively greater proportion of good queens, than of good kings. Sarah Moore Grimke queens leadership kings Intellect is not sexed;... strength of mind is not sexed; and ... our views about the duties of men and the duties of women, the sphere of man and the sphere of woman, are mere arbitrary opinions, differing in different ages and countries, and dependent solely on the will and judgment of erring mortals. Sarah Moore Grimke views men country Oh, had I received the education I desired, had I been bred to the profession of the law, I might have been a useful member of society, and instead of myself and my property being taken care of, I might have been a protector of the helpless, a pleader for the poor and unfortunate. Sarah Moore Grimke taken responsibility law The reason why women effect so little and are so shallow is because their aims are low, marriage is the prize for which they strive; if foiled in that they rarely rise above disappointment. Sarah Moore Grimke disappointment reason-why littles It would be as wise to set up an accomplished lawyer to saw wood as a business as to condemn an educated and sensible woman to spend all her time boiling potatoes and patching old garments. Yet this is the lot of many a one who incessantly stitches and boils and bakes, compelled to thrust back out of sight the aspirations which fill her soul. Sarah Moore Grimke soul wise sight At sixty I look back on a life of deep disappointments, of withered hopes, of unlooked for suffering, of severe discipline. Sarah Moore Grimke discipline disappointment hope Good and evil, as we term them, are not antagonistic; they are ever found hand in hand. Humanity has never achieved a single conquest without the aid of both. Indeed how can she? What adds to moral strength, but a grappling with temptation? Sarah Moore Grimke temptation evil hands [On the Adam and Eve story:] They both fell from innocence, and consequently from happiness, but not from equality. Sarah Moore Grimke innocence equality stories In all ages, through all the varied experience of individuals and nations, knowledge has been the power which has civilized, elevated and dignified humanity. In those countries where progress has been most rapid, the thirst for knowledge has been most intense. Sarah Moore Grimke humanity country knowledge Girls study under the paralyzing idea that their acquirements cannot be brought into practical use. They may subserve the purposes of promoting individual domestic pleasure and social enjoyment in conversation, but what are they in comparison with the grand stimulation of independence and self- reliance, of the capability of contributing to the comfort and happiness of those whom they love as their own souls? Sarah Moore Grimke girl self ideas I want my sex to claim nothing from their brethren but what their brethren may justly claim from them. Sarah Moore Grimke brother may sex Had Adam tenderly reproved his wife, and endeavored to lead her to repentance instead of sharing in her guilt, I should be much more ready to accord to man that superiority which he claims; but as the facts stand disclosed by the sacred historian, it appears to me that to say the least, there was as much weakness exhibited by Adam as by Eve. They both fell from innocence, and consequently from happiness, but not from equality. Sarah Moore Grimke wife guilt men One of the duties which devolve upon women in the present interesting crisis, is to prepare themselves for more extensive usefulness, by making use of those religious and literary privileges and advantages that are within their reach, if they will only stretch out their hands and possess them. Sarah Moore Grimke religious hands interesting If the sewing societies, the avails of whose industry are now expended in supporting and educating young men for the ministry, were to withdraw their contributions to these objects, and give them where they are more needed, to their advancement of their own sex in useful learning, the next generation might furnish sufficient proof, that in intelligence and ability to master the whole circle of sciences, woman is not inferior to man. Sarah Moore Grimke circles men sex
