Lucretia Mott Quotes

Women are a great civilizing force in any society and when they are repressed things don’t work very well.

There are two powers in the world; one is the sword and the other is the pen. There is a great competition and rivalry between the two. There is a third power stronger than both, that of the women.

Emancipation of women has made them lose their mystery.

Ever since the beginning of Soviet rule, equal rights for women have been an object of interest not only for women, but for men as well – young men, Red Army men.

The role of women is not to be circumscribed.

I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is. I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat or a prostitute.

Feminism, like Boston, is a state of mind. It is the state of mind of women who realize that their whole position in the social order is antiquated, as a woman cooking over an open fire with heavy iron pots would know that her entire housekeeping was out of date.

Voting means very little…if I may not keep my body, and its uses, in my absolute right. Not one wife in a thousand can do that now, & so long as she suffers this bondage, all other rights will not help her to her true position.

I don't think there should be anything that women are embarrassed to talk about in the 21st century, because for the last 100,000 years, men have said everything that's on their minds and described everything they have done.

The test of civilization is its estimate of women.

What I said was that in a democratic society, people must be permitted to make their choices and that the choices of women should not be subordinate to the choices of men, otherwise women are less than equal, are second-class citizens.

Men should think twice before making widow hood woman's only path to power.

There are not many roles where women are really active.

It's a little bit late in the day for men to object that women are getting outside their proper sphere.

I've always said that I felt women are more heroic.

I am in favor of carrying out the Declaration of Independence to women as well as men. Women having to suffer the burdens of society and government should have their equal rights in it. They do not receive their rights in full proportion.

If women want any rights more than they's got, why don't they just take them, and not be talking about it.

It's because it was at a time when women didn't have any power. It was so unusual for a young woman in her 20s to have power that I seized the power but tried not to flaunt it.

The history of American women is about the fight for freedom, but it's less a war against oppressive men than a struggle to straighten out the perpetually mixed message about women's role that was accepted by almost everybody of both genders.

Women have not had their rights come easily.

During the ages, no rebellion has been of like importance with that of Woman against the tyranny of Church and State; none has had its far reaching effects.

You don't run a feminist agenda and achieve political power.

Unless the woman is liberated, there is no freedom in Iraqi land.

There will never be a generation of great men until there has been a generation of free women.

Women have served all these centuries as looking glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of man at twice its natural size.