If women would today would rise en masse and demand their emancipation, the men would be compelled to grant it.
Victoria WoodhullRead
Good care is taken that each state shall have its prisons . . . and other asylums; but not one building is erected nor one law enforced that would teach the people how not to contribute to these over-crowded receptacles of human misery . . . . All of our politicians are ready to deal with the effects, but not one of them is brave enough to penetrate the substratum of society and deal with the cause.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote criticizes society's focus on managing problems rather than addressing their root causes.
Victoria Woodhull's quote highlights a systemic failure in societal governance, pointing out that while politicians are quick to respond to the consequences of social issues such as overcrowded prisons and asylums, they often fail to confront the underlying societal problems that lead to these issues. It emphasizes the need for proactive measures and education that could prevent the creation of such 'receptacles of human misery', urging a shift from reactive to preventive approaches in political and social systems.
Themes
SocietyPoliticsPreventionIssuesCare
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about criminal justice reform to argue for preventive measures.
More from Victoria Woodhull
All quotes →I ask the rights to pursue happiness by having a voice in that government to which I am accountable.
Victoria WoodhullRead
No man who respects his mother or loves his sister, can speak disparagingly of any woman; however low she may seem to have sunk, she is still a woman. I want every man to remember this. Every woman is, or, at some time, has been a sister or daughter.
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Suffrage is a common right of citizenship. Women have the right of suffrage. Logically it cannot be escaped.
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Denounce me for advocating freedom if you can, and I will bear your curse with a better resignation.
Victoria WoodhullRead
Rude contact with facts chased my visions and dreams quickly away, and in their stead I beheld the horrors, the corruption, the evils and hypocrisy of society, and as I stood among them, a young wife, a great wail of agony went out from my soul.
Victoria WoodhullRead
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