Mary Astell Quotes
Mary Astell was an English philosopher and one of the first advocates in English of the equal education of women. In A Serious Proposal to the Ladies she argued for the founding of an academic community in which women might cultivate rational and religious life apart from the demands of marriage and society. The quotes below are attributed to Mary Astell, organized by topic.
Mary Astell on Freedom
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Attributed to Mary Astell:
“If all Men are born free, how is it that all Women are born slaves?”
Mary Astell on God
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Attributed to Mary Astell:
“True Religion is true Reason.”
Mary Astell on Happiness
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Attributed to Mary Astell:
“Nothing is, in truth, a Pleasure to us, but what is rationally so.”
Mary Astell on Love
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Attributed to Mary Astell:
“How can a Man respect his Wife when he has a Contemptible Opinion of her and her Sex?”
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Attributed to Mary Astell:
“She who has nothing to give but herself, makes a notable present.”
Mary Astell on Politics
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Attributed to Mary Astell:
“If absolute Sovereignty be not necessary in a State, how comes it to be so in a Family?”