Mary Astell Quotes on Virtue
Mary Astell was an English philosopher and one of the first advocates in English of the equal education of women. This page collects quotes attributed to Mary Astell on the topic of virtue, drawn from across the philosopher's works.
Quotes
-
Attributed to Mary Astell:
“How can a Man respect his Wife when he has a Contemptible Opinion of her and her Sex?”
-
Attributed to Mary Astell:
“Nothing is, in truth, a Pleasure to us, but what is rationally so.”
-
Attributed to Mary Astell:
“She who has nothing to give but herself, makes a notable present.”
-
“An ill husband may deprive a wife of the comfort and quiet of her life, give occasion of exercising her virtue, try her patience and fortitude to the utmost, which is all he can do; it is herself only that can accomplish her ruin.”
As quoted in The Whole duty of a woman: female writers in seventeenth century England , p. 157, by Angeline Goreau. Editorial Dial Press, 1985. ISBN 0385278780 .