The home is the centre and circumference, the start and the finish, of most of our lives.
It is the same woman, I know, for she is always creeping, and most women do not creep by daylight.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests a deeper understanding of a woman's struggle and societal behavior, particularly in relation to how women express themselves in public versus private.
In this quote, Charlotte Perkins Gilman reflects on the complexities of women's behavior and societal expectations. The phrase 'creeping' implies a sense of secrecy or constraint, suggesting that women often have to hide their true selves or desires in public. This stark contrast between daylight and creeping illustrates the societal pressures that discourage women from expressing their individuality openly, highlighting a critical perspective on gender roles and the inherent struggles women face.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a discussion on gender equality at a women's rights event.
More from Charlotte Perkins Gilman
All quotes βTo swallow and follow, whether old doctrine or new propaganda, is a weakness still dominating the human mind.
Woman" in the abstract is young, and, we assume, charming. As they get older they pass off the stage, somehow, into private ownership mostly, or out of it altogether.
We all need one another; much and often. Just as every human creature needs a place to be alone in, a sacred, private "home" of his own, so all human creatures need a place to be together in, from the two who can show each other their souls uninterruptedly, to the largest throng that can throb and stir in unison.
Death is the essential condition of life, not an evil.
When the mother of the race is free, we shall have a better world, by the easy right of birth and by the calm, slow, friendly forces of evolution.
Similar quotes
What it felt to me was like the dissolution of my idea of myself. I felt like separateness evaporated. I felt this tremendous sense of oneness. I'm quite an erratic thinker, quite an adrenalized person, but through meditation, I found this beautiful serenity and selfless connection. My tendency towards selfishness, I felt that kind of exposed as a superficial and pointless perspective to have. I felt very relaxed, a sense of oneness. I felt love.
As we have sought through the centuries to define ourselves as human beings and as nations through the prisms of history and literature, no small part of that effort has drawn us to the subject of war. We might even say that the humanities began with war and from war, and have remained entwined with it ever since.
Chimerical and empty being, your name alone has caused more blood to flow on the face of the earth than any political war ever will. Return to the nothingness from which the mad hope and ridiculous fright of men dared call you forth to their misfortune. You only appeared as a torment for the human race. What crimes would have been spared the world, if they had choked the first imbecile who thought of speaking of you.
Our institutions were not devised to bring about uniformity of opinion; if they had we might well abandon hope. It is important to remember, as has well been said, 'the essential characteristic of true liberty is that under its shelter many different types of life and character and opinion and belief can develop unmolested and unobstructed.'
Will is wish, and liberty is power.
To give one's life is a right only when one gives it unselfishly.