Anna Maria van Schurman Quotes
Anna Maria van Schurman was a Dutch polymath, painter, and philosopher, widely celebrated in seventeenth-century Europe as the most learned woman of her age. Her Whether a Christian Woman Should Be Educated of 1638 defended, in scholastic Latin, the right and duty of women of leisure to receive a serious philosophical and theological education, while her correspondence with Descartes, Mersenne, and the prince-bishop of Munster placed her at the center of the Republic of Letters. The quotes below are attributed to Anna Maria van Schurman, organized by topic.
Anna Maria van Schurman on God
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Attributed to Anna Maria van Schurman:
“True learning is rooted in piety; piety without learning is impoverished.”
Anna Maria van Schurman on Knowledge
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Attributed to Anna Maria van Schurman:
“There is nothing more becoming for a Christian woman than a love of learning.”
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Attributed to Anna Maria van Schurman:
“Languages are the keys with which the doors of knowledge are unlocked.”
Anna Maria van Schurman on Mind
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Attributed to Anna Maria van Schurman:
“The intellect is not the privilege of one sex; it is the gift of human nature itself.”
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Attributed to Anna Maria van Schurman:
“The cultivation of the mind belongs to the dignity of the soul.”