Mary Astell
Mary Astell
Mary Astellwas an English feminist writer and rhetorician. Her advocacy of equal educational opportunities for women has earned her the title "the first English feminist."...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth12 November 1666
pain grief may
We may not commit a lesser Sin under pretence to avoid a greater, but we may, nay we ought to endure the greatest Pain and Grief rather than commit the least Sin.
friendship fit virtue
friendship is a virtue which comprehends all the rest; none being fit for this, who is not adorned with every other virtue.
distance unhappy wit
Unhappy is that Grandeur which makes us too great to be good; and that Wit which sets us at a distance from true Wisdom.
design ends worthy
God is His own Design and End, and that there is no other Worthy of Him.
accepting said refuse
A woman indeed can't properly be said to choose, all that is allowed her, is to refuse or accept what is offered.
infancy-is want advantage
Women are from their very infancy debarred those Advantages with the want of which they are afterwards reproached.
mind delight body
Every one knows, that the mind will not be kept from contemplating what it loves in the midst of crowds and business. Hence come those frequent absences, so observable in conversation; for whilst the body is confined to present company, the mind is flown to that which it delights in.
tyrants coward tyranny
none can be Tyrants but Cowards.
self soul affection
The Soul debases her self, when she sets her affections on any thing but her creator.