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If our highly pointed triangles of the soldier class are formidable, it may be readily inferred that far more formidable are our women. For if a soldier is a wedge, a women is a needle; being, so to speak, all point, at least at the two extremities. Add to this the power of making herself practically invisible at will, and you will perceive that a female, in Flatland, is a creature by no means to be trifled with.
Edwin A. Abbott
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Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote highlights the strength and complexity of women in society, comparing them to formidable geometric shapes.

In this insightful quote from 'Flatland,' Edwin A. Abbott uses geometric metaphors to convey the idea that while soldiers are powerful due to their pointedness and strength, women possess a unique and significant power that is often underestimated. The comparison of a soldier to a wedge and a woman to a needle underscores the precision and subtlety of women's influence, suggesting that their capability to navigate society and assert themselves can be more impactful than brute force.

Themes

WomenStrengthPowerInvisibilityGeometry

In practice

Example use cases

This quote can be shared during a discussion on gender roles in literature.

More from Edwin A. Abbott

I call our world Flatland, not because we call it so, but to make its nature clearer to you, my happy readers, who are privileged to live in Space.
Edwin A. AbbottRead

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Quote by Edwin A. Abbott | QuoteProject