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
Men and women must be educated, in a great degree, by the opinions and manners of the society they live in.
Interpretation
Society significantly influences the education and development of individuals.
In this quote, Mary Wollstonecraft emphasizes that the surrounding society plays a crucial role in shaping the education and character of both men and women. It highlights the importance of societal norms and beliefs in the learning process, suggesting that one's upbringing and external environment are key factors in personal development.
In practice
In a discussion about the importance of education, this quote can illustrate how societal norms impact learning.
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.
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.
But what a weak barrier is truth when it stands in the way of an hypothesis!
The divine right of husbands, like the divine right of kings, may, it is hoped, in this enlightened age, be contested without danger.
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.
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!
Do not ask if a man has been through college; ask if a college has been through him; if he is a walking university.
When you wish to instruct, be brief; that men's [children's] minds take in quickly what you say, learn its lesson, and retain it faithfully. Every word that is unnecessary only pours over the side of a brimming mind.
A society's competitive advantage will come not from how well its schools teach the multiplication and periodic tables, but from how well they stimulate imagination and creativity.
How to teach people to do what hasn't been done is a great riddle.
Our children are our only hope for the future, but we are their only hope for their present and their future.
My parents didn't know much science; in fact, they didn't know science at all. But they could recognize a science book when they saw it, and they spent a lot of time at bookstores, combing the remainder tables for science books to buy for me. I had one of the biggest libraries of any kid in school, built on books that cost 50 cents or a dollar.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.