The whole argument with the anti-suffragists, or even the critical suffragist man, is this: that you can govern human beings without their consent.
Emmeline PankhurstRead
I want to say to you who think women cannot succeed, we have brought the government of England to this position, that it has to face this alternative: either women are to be killed or women are to have the vote.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the determination of women to gain their right to vote, highlighting the drastic consequences of ignoring their demands.
Emmeline Pankhurst’s quote addresses the struggle for women's suffrage by presenting a stark choice to the government of England: either accept women's right to vote or face severe consequences. It underscores the urgency of the women’s movement and challenges the belief that women are incapable of achieving significant societal change, demanding equal rights as essential rather than an option.
Themes
WomenVoteSuffrageChangeEquality
In practice
Example use cases
During a women's rights rally, this quote can inspire attendees to push for voting rights.
More from Emmeline Pankhurst
All quotes →Solitary confinement is too terrible a punishment to inflict on any human being, no matter what his crime. Hardened criminals in the men's prisons, it is said, often beg for the lash instead.
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Justice and judgment lie often a world apart.
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Governments have always tried to crush reform movements, to destroy ideas, to kill the thing that cannot die. Without regard to history, which shows that no Government have ever succeeded in doing this, they go on trying in the old, senseless way.
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You must make women count as much as men; you must have an equal standard of morals; and the only way to enforce that is through giving women political power so that you can get that equal moral standard registered in the laws of the country. It is the only way.
Emmeline PankhurstRead
You have to make more noise than anybody else, you have to make yourself more obtrusive than anybody else, you have to fill all the papers more than anybody else, in fact you have to be there all the time and see that they do not snow you under.
Emmeline PankhurstRead
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