Mary Astell - Reflections upon marriage (1706)

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That Man indeed can never be good at heart, who is full of himself and his own Endowments.

Mary Astell
None of us whether Men or Women but have so good an Opinion of our own Conduct as to believe we are fit, if not to direct others, at least to govern our selves.

Mary Astell
Why is Slavery so much condemn'd and strove against in one Case, and so highly applauded and held so necessary and so sacred in another?

Mary Astell
The scum of the People are most Tyrannical when they get the Power, and treat their Betters with the greatest Insolence.

Mary Astell
To all the rest of his Absurdities, (for vice is always unreasonable,) he adds one more, who expects that Vertue from another which he won't practise himself.

Mary Astell
A woman indeed can't properly be said to choose, all that is allowed her, is to refuse or accept what is offered.

Mary Astell
Women need not take up with mean things, since (if they are not wanting to themselves) they are capable of the best.

Mary Astell
.. he who only or chiefly chose for Beauty, will in a little Time find the same Reason for another Choice.

Mary Astell
Women are not so well united as to form an Insurrection. They are for the most part wise enough to love their Chains, and to discern how becomingly they fit.

Mary Astell
Whilst our Hearts are violently set upon any thing, there is no convincing us that we shall ever be of another Mind.

Mary Astell
He who will be just, must be forc'd to acknowledge, that neither Sex are always in the right.

Mary Astell
Every Body has so good an Opinion of their own Understanding as to think their own way the best.

Mary Astell
How can a Man respect his Wife when he has a contemptible Opinion of her and her Sex?

Mary Astell
Marry for Love, an Heroick Action, which makes a mighty noise in the World, partly because of its rarity, and partly in regard of its extravagancy.

Mary Astell
If God had not intended that Women shou'd use their Reason, He wou'd not have given them any, 'for He does nothing in vain.

Mary Astell
If none were to Marry, but Men of strict Vertue and Honour, I doubt the World would be but thinly peopled.

Mary Astell
If Absolute Sovereignty be not necessary in a State, how comes it to be so in a family?

Mary Astell
The Steps to Folly as well as Sin are gradual, and almost imperceptible, and when we are once on the Decline, we go down without taking notice on't.

Mary Astell
'Tis less to be wondered at that women marry off in haste, for if they took time to consider and reflect upon it, they seldom would.

Mary Astell
Unhappy is that Grandeur which makes us too great to be good; and that Wit which sets us at a distance from true Wisdom.

Mary Astell
None of God's Creatures absolutely consider'd are in their own Nature Contemptible; the meanest Fly, the poorest Insect has its Use and Vertue.

Mary Astell
If all men are born free, how is it that all women are born slaves?

Mary Astell
That which has not a real excellency and value in it self, entertains no longer than the giddy Humour which recommended it to us holds.

Mary Astell
Ignorance and a narrow education lay the foundation of vice, and imitation and custom rear it up.

Mary Astell
To plead for the Oppress'd and to defend the Weak seem'd to me a generous undertaking; for tho' it may be secure, 'tis not always Honourable to run over to the strongest party.

Mary Astell
If marriage be such a blessed state, how comes it, may you say, that there are so few happy marriages? Now in answer to this, it is not to be wondered that so few succeed; we should rather be surprised to find so many do, considering how imprudently men engage, the motives they act by, and the very strange conduct they observe throughout.

Mary Astell
If a Woman can neither Love nor Honour, she does ill in promising to Obey.

Mary Astell
But, alas! what poor Woman is ever taught that she should have a higher Design than to get her a Husband?

Mary Astell
How can you be content to be in the world like tulips in a garden, to make a fine show, and be good for nothing.

Mary Astell
Nor can the Apostle mean that Eve only sinned; or that she only was Deceived, for if Adam sinned willfully and knowingly, he became the greater Transgressor.

Mary Astell