An air of fashion, which is but a badge of slavery ... proves that the soul has not a strong individual character. Mary Wollstonecraft More Quotes by Mary Wollstonecraft More Quotes From Mary Wollstonecraft I do not wish women to have power over men; but over themselves. Mary Wollstonecraft strong-womenindependentlife The beginning is always today. Mary Wollstonecraft new-beginningsdivorceinspiring Strengthen the female mind by enlarging it, and there will be an end to blind obedience. Mary Wollstonecraft mother-and-daughterwomenmind The more equality there is established among men, the more virtue and happiness will reign in society. Mary Wollstonecraft reignequalitymen Women do not want power over men, they want power over themselves. Mary Wollstonecraft wantmen Men, in general, seem to employ their reason to justify prejudices...rather than to root them out. Mary Wollstonecraft rootsjusticemen Only that education deserves emphatically to be termed cultivation of the mind which teaches young people how to begin to think. Mary Wollstonecraft educationpeoplethinking Women are systematically degraded by receiving the trivial attentions which men think it manly to pay to the sex, when, in fact, men are insultingly supporting their own superiority. Mary Wollstonecraft womensexthinking Men and women must be educated, in a great degree, by the opinions and manners of the society they live in. Mary Wollstonecraft degreeseducationmen The appetites will rule if the mind is vacant. Mary Wollstonecraft vacantappetitemind No man chooses evil because it's evil. He only mistakes it for happiness, the good he seeks. Mary Wollstonecraft mistakehappinessmen Let woman share the rights and she will emulate the virtues of man; for she must grow more perfect when emancipated. Mary Wollstonecraft rightsperfectmen The being cannot be termed rational or virtuous, who obeys any authority, but that of reason. Mary Wollstonecraft atheismliteraturereason Taught from infancy that beauty is woman's sceptre, the mind shapes itself to the body, and roaming round its gilt cage, only seeks to adorn its prison. Mary Wollstonecraft infancy-iswomenbeauty Friendship is a serious affection; the most sublime of all affections, because it is founded on principle, and cemented by time. The very reverse may be said of love. In a great degree, love and friendship cannot subsist in the same bosom; even when inspired by different objects they weaken or destroy each other, and for the same object can only be felt in succession. The vain fears and fond jealousies, the winds which fan the flame of love, when judiciously or artfully tempered, are both incompatible with the tender confidence and sincere respect of friendship. Mary Wollstonecraft flameswindfriendship Independence I have long considered as the grand blessing of life, the basis of every virtue; and independence I will ever secure by contracting my wants, though I were to live on a barren heath. Mary Wollstonecraft singleblessinglife A modest man is steady, an humble man timid, and a vain one presumptuous. Mary Wollstonecraft vainhumblemen Simplicity and sincerity generally go hand in hand, as both proceed from a love of truth. Mary Wollstonecraft sinceritysimplicityhands Women ought to have representatives, instead of being arbitrarily governed without any direct share allowed them in the deliberations of government. Mary Wollstonecraft womengovernmentshare Till women are more rationally educated, the progress in human virtue and improvement in knowledge must receive continual checks. Mary Wollstonecraft progressdiversityjustice
