Margaret Fell Quotes
Margaret Fell was an English philosopher, religious organizer, and the principal early architect of the Religious Society of Friends, the Quakers, alongside her second husband George Fox. Her Womens Speaking Justified, Proved and Allowed of by the Scriptures of 1666 mounted one of the most sustained early-modern Christian arguments for the right and duty of women to preach, on the basis of a close philosophical and exegetical reading of the Old and New Testaments. The quotes below are attributed to Margaret Fell, organized by topic.
Margaret Fell on God
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Attributed to Margaret Fell:
“It is not the custom of men but the Spirit of God that authorizes who may speak.”
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Attributed to Margaret Fell:
“Women's speaking is justified, proved, and allowed of by the Scriptures.”
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Attributed to Margaret Fell:
“The Light of Christ is in every man and every woman, and waits for the speech of either.”
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Attributed to Margaret Fell:
“Outward forms of worship are the husks; the kernel is the inward listening.”
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Attributed to Margaret Fell:
“What is written by the Spirit, the Spirit also enables to speak.”
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“Put up at the moment of greatest suffering a prayer, not for thy own escape, but for the enfranchisement of some being dear to thee, and the sovereign spirit will accept thy ransom.”
Recipe to prevent the cold of January from utterly destroying life" (30 January 1841), quoted in Margaret Fuller Ossoli (1898) by Thomas Wentworth Higginson , p. 97
Margaret Fell on Happiness
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“Beware of over-great pleasure in being popular or even beloved.”
Letter to her brother, (20 December 1840) as quoted in The Feminist Papers (1973) by Alice Rossi -
“How many persons must there be who cannot worship alone since they are content with so little.”
Letter to Rev. W. H. Channing (31 December 1843) quoted in Margaret Fuller Ossoli (1898) by Thomas Wentworth Higginson, p. 184
Margaret Fell on Knowledge
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“Letter to Ralph Waldo Emerson (1 March 1838); published in The Letters of Margaret Fuller vol. I, p. 327, , edited by Robert N. Hudspeth (1983)”
There are noble books but one wants the breath of life sometimes. And I see no divine person. I myself am more divine than any I see — I think that is enough to say about them... -
“Letter to her brother, (20 December 1840) as quoted in The Feminist Papers (1973) by Alice Rossi”
Beware of over-great pleasure in being popular or even beloved. -
“Letter to Reverend William Henry Channing (21 February 1841) quoted in Margaret Fuller Ossoli (1898) by Thomas Wentworth Higginson, p. 112”
Men disappoint me so, I disappoint myself so, yet courage, patience, shuffle the cards ... -
“It is astonishing what force, purity, and wisdom it requires for a human being to keep clear of falsehoods.”
Notes from Cambridge, Massachusetts (July 1842) published in Memoirs of Margaret Fuller Ossoli (1852), Vol. II, p. 64 -
“Notes from Cambridge, Massachusetts (July 1842) published in Memoirs of Margaret Fuller Ossoli (1852), Vol. II, p. 64”
It is astonishing what force, purity, and wisdom it requires for a human being to keep clear of falsehoods. -
“Letter to Rev. W. H. Channing (31 December 1843) quoted in Margaret Fuller Ossoli (1898) by Thomas Wentworth Higginson, p. 184”
How many persons must there be who cannot worship alone since they are content with so little.
Margaret Fell on Life
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“Recipe to prevent the cold of January from utterly destroying life" (30 January 1841), quoted in Margaret Fuller Ossoli (1898) by Thomas Wentworth Higginson , p. 97”
Put up at the moment of greatest suffering a prayer, not for thy own escape, but for the enfranchisement of some being dear to thee, and the sovereign spirit will accept thy ransom.
Things actually not said by Margaret Fell
A number of widely-shared lines are circulated as Margaret Fell but are in fact from someone else. Did Margaret Fell say these? No. Each entry below pairs the line with the person who actually wrote it.
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Did Margaret Fell say this? No.
“Be what you would seem to be.”
This quote is commonly attributed to philosophers but its actual source is uncertain or unverified in the standard reference works. Wikiquote's note on this attribution: English proverb, used by many authors, including some prior to Margaret Fuller's time; Thomas Fuller expresses related thoughts in his "Panegyric" on Charles II, Section 21" in The History of the Worthies of England (1662):
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Did Margaret Fell say this? No.
“When your dreams tire, they go underground and out of kindness that's where they stay.”
This quote is commonly attributed to philosophers but its actual source is uncertain or unverified in the standard reference works. Wikiquote's note on this attribution: Libby Houston, in the poem "Gold" in Necessity (1988).
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Did Margaret Fell say this? No.
“When people keep telling you that you can't do a thing, you kind of like to try it.”
This quote is commonly attributed to philosophers but its actual source is uncertain or unverified in the standard reference works. Wikiquote's note on this attribution: Margaret Chase Smith , quoted in More Than Petticoats : Remarkable Maine Women (2005) by Kate Kennedy