Mary Wollstonecraft Quotes & Sayings (Page 3)

“How can a rational being be ennobled by any thing that is not obtained by its own exertions?”

“Surely something resides in this heart that is not perishable - and life is more than a dream.”

“It appears to me impossible that I should cease to exist, or that this active, restless spirit, equally alive to joy and sorrow, should be only organized dust.”

“In fact, it is a farce to call any being virtuous whose virtues do not result from the exercise of its own reason.”

“The same energy of character which renders a man a daring villain would have rendered him useful in society, had that society been well organized.”

“Why is our fancy to be appalled by terrific perspectives of a hell beyond the grave?”

“Women are degraded by the propensity to enjoy the present moment, and, at last, despise the freedom which they have not sufficient virtue to struggle to attain.”

“I do earnestly wish to see the distinction of sex confounded in society, unless where love animates the behaviour.”

“I love my man as my fellow; but his scepter, real, or usurped, extends not to me, unless the reason of an individual demands my homage; and even then the submission is to reason, and not to man.”

“Slavery to monarchs and ministers, which the world will be long freeing itself from, and whose deadly grasp stops the progress of the human mind, is not yet abolished.”