QuoteProject
Let not men then in the pride of power, use the same arguments that tyrannic kings and venal ministers have used, and fallaciously assert that women ought to be subjected because she has always been so.... It is time to effect a revolution in female manners - time to restore to them their lost dignity.... It is time to separate unchangeable morals from local manners.
Mary Wollstonecraft
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote emphasizes the need to challenge societal norms that oppress women and calls for a revolution in how women are treated.

Mary Wollstonecraft's quote advocates for the recognition of women's inherent dignity and criticizes the use of historical arguments that justify their oppression. She urges a transformation in societal attitudes towards women, arguing that their treatment should be based on universal morals rather than outdated customs that have long been accepted without question.

Themes

WomenDignityRevolutionMoralitySociety

In practice

Example use cases

In a women's rights rally to emphasize the importance of equality.

More from Mary Wollstonecraft

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 WollstonecraftRead
Make women rational creatures, and free citizens, and they will quickly become good wives; - that is, if men do not neglect the duties of husbands and fathers.
Mary WollstonecraftRead
But what a weak barrier is truth when it stands in the way of an hypothesis!
Mary WollstonecraftRead
The divine right of husbands, like the divine right of kings, may, it is hoped, in this enlightened age, be contested without danger.
Mary WollstonecraftRead
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.
Mary WollstonecraftRead
Perhaps the seeds of false-refinement, immorality, and vanity, have ever been shed by the great. Weak, artificial beings, raised above the common wants and defections of their race, in a premature and unnatural manner, undermine the very foundation of virtue, and spread corruption through the whole mass of society!
Mary WollstonecraftRead

Similar quotes

The only way really to influence countries, in terms of poverty, is to get them to change their policies and get them to understand what the issues are.
James WolfensohnRead
What the river was showing her now was that she could flow beyond the brokenness, redeem herself, and fuse once more.
Ursula HegiRead
From what I see, people of color are being called on in a different way. We're being heard in a different way - louder. And I think it's such an exciting time. The power structure is being redefined, and we're redefining beauty with the stories that we're telling and the women we're showing on our covers.
Elaine WelterothRead
I think my favourite thing about doing conventions is the parents taking their kids to see their favourite drag idols, because open-minded, progressive parents are making such a change in the world right now. The more open-minded these kids are being raised, the more hope I have for the future.
Jinkx MonsoonRead
As I was writing 'The Shock Doctrine', I was covering the Iraq War and profiteering from the war, and I started to see these patterns repeat in the aftermath of natural disasters, like the Asian tsunami and then Hurricane Katrina.
Naomi KleinRead
There is nobody who totally lacks the courage to change.
Rollo MayRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.