These wonderful narrations inspired me with strange feelings. Was man, indeed, at once so powerful, so virtuous and magnificent, yet so vicious and base? He appeared at one time a mere scion of the evil principle, and at another as all that can be conceived of noble and godlike. To be a great and virtuous man appeared the highest honour that can befall a sensitive being; to be base and vicious, as many on record have been, appeared the lowest degradation, a condition more abject than that of the blind mole or harmless worm. For a long time I could not conceive how one man could go forth to murder his fellow, or even why there were laws and governments; but when I heard details of vice and bloodshed, my wonder ceased, and I turned away with disgust and loathing. . Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
Some Similar Quotes
  1. Friends are the family you choose (~ Nin/Ithilnin, Elven rogue). - Jess C. Scott
  2. All the world's a stage and most of us are desperately unrehearsed. - Unknown
  3. The fact that a cloud from a minor volcanic eruption in Iceland–a small disturbance in the complex mechanism of life on the Earth–can bring to a standstill the aerial traffic over an entire continent is a reminder of how, with all its power to transform... - Unknown
  4. To really change the world, we have to help people change the way they see things. Global betterment is a mental process, not one that requires huge sums of money or a high level of authority. Change has to be psychological. So if you want... - Suzy Kassem
  5. Anya looked upon Nin admirably. Having him as a partner-in-crime–if only on this one occasion, which she hoped would only be the start of something more–was more revitalizing than the cheap thrills of a cookie-cutter shallow, superficial romance, where the top priority was how beautiful... - Jess C. Scott
More Quotes By Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
  1. Life, although it may only be an accumulation of anguish, is dear to me, and I will defend it.
  2. No man chooses evil because it is evil; he only mistakes it for happiness, the good he seeks.
  3. There was a considerable difference between the ages of my parents, but this circumstance seemed to unite them only closer in bonds of devoted affection.
  4. Seek happiness in tranquility and avoid ambition even if it be only the apparently innocent one of distinguishing yourself in science and discoveries.
  5. One as deformed and horrible as myself, could not deny herself to me. My companion must be of the same species, and have the same defects... with whom I can live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for my being...
Related Topics