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
Virtue can only flourish among equals.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Virtuous behavior can only thrive in an environment of equality.
Mary Wollstonecraft's quote highlights the importance of equality in fostering virtuous behavior among individuals. It suggests that when people are treated as equals, they are more likely to exhibit moral integrity and ethical conduct, as the inherent power dynamics present in unequal relationships can stifle virtue and lead to unjust actions.
Themes
VirtueEqualityFlourishMoral IntegrityEthics
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion about social justice, one might use this quote to emphasize the need for equality in promoting virtuous behavior.
More from Mary Wollstonecraft
All quotes βMake 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
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