Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft
page 294 of 304 (96%)
page 294 of 304 (96%)
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animated enough to give life to the body.
"Matter too soft a lasting mark to bear, And best distinguish'd by black, brown, or fair." The most cruel wounds will of course soon heal, and they may still people the world, and dress to please man--all the purposes which certain celebrated writers have allowed that they were created to fill. SECTION 13.4. Women are supposed to possess more sensibility, and even humanity, than men, and their strong attachments and instantaneous emotions of compassion are given as proofs; but the clinging affection of ignorance has seldom any thing noble in it, and may mostly be resolved into selfishness, as well as the affection of children and brutes. I have known many weak women whose sensibility was entirely engrossed by their husbands; and as for their humanity, it was very faint indeed, or rather it was only a transient emotion of compassion, "Humanity does not consist in a squeamish ear," says an eminent orator. "It belongs to the mind as well as the nerves." But this kind of exclusive affection, though it degrade the individual, should not be brought forward as a proof of the inferiority of the sex, because it is the natural consequence of confined views: for even women of superior sense, having their attention turned to little employments, and private plans, rarely rise to heroism, unless when spurred on by love; and love as an heroic passion, like genius, appears but once in an age. I |
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