Mary Wollstonecraft Quotes

Whether you call my heart affectionate, or you call it womanish: I confess, that to my misfortune, it is soft.

It is not the broken heart that kills, but broken pride, monseigneur.

I have come to the conclusion that it's a waste of time to have too much pride in anything. Perhaps it's good to have a sense of duty, a jealous zeal to protect or improve, but pride ultimately is only that which stands vulnerable to offense and degradation.

Better to be disliked than pitied.

It would be an egregious mistake to ever refer to me in the same breath as most of the people I write about.

Pride is an admission of weakness; it secretly fears all competition and dreads all rivals.

I do have a delicate side.

In a vain man, the smallest spark may kindle into the greatest flame, because the materials are always prepared for it.

Great names abase, instead of elevating, those who do not know how to bear them.

To see helpless infancy stretching out her hands, and pouring out her cries in testimony of dependence, without any powers to alarm jealousy, or any guilt to alienate affection, must surely awaken tenderness in every human mind; and tenderness once excited will be hourly increased by the natural contagion of felicity, by the repercussion of communicated pleasure, by the consciousness of dignity of benefaction.

Servility is disgusting to a truly noble character, and engenders only contempt.

Vanity and dignity are incompatible with each other; vain women are almost sure to be vulnerable.

things which in my mind blossom will stumble beneath a clumsiest disguise appear capable of fragility and indecision

The humbleness of a warrior is not the humbleness of the beggar. The warrior lowers his head to no one, but at the same time, he doesn't permit anyone to lower his head to him. The beggar, on the other hand, falls to his knees at the drop of a hat and scrapes the floor to anyone he deems to be higher; but at the same time, he demands that someone lower than him scrape the floor for him.

It's always better to step down from the pedestal than to be pulled off of it.

There's no labor a man can do that's undignified-if he does it right.

But in my heart I knew that just like the new grass, I wasn't strong enough yet to be walked on

Humility is the ability to give up your pride and still retain your dignity.

Intolerance is the ''Do Not Touch'' sign on something that cannot bear touching. We do not mind having our hair ruffled, but we will not tolerate any familiarity with the toupee which covers our baldness.

He who says he never needs help, most does.

I will get my respect or I will die.

If you are capable of submitting to insult you ought to be insulted.

It's tougher to be vulnerable than to actually be tough.

With a kiss you can strip me defenseless.

No matter how smart she appeared, she was fragile at her core.