Little girls ought to be taught and brought up with boys, so that they might be always together. A woman ought to be trained so that she may be able, like a man, to recognise when she's wrong, or she always thinks she's in the right. Instil into a little girl from her cradle that a man is not first of all a cavalier or a possible lover, but her neighbour, her equal in everything. Train her to think logically, to generalise, and do not assure her that her brain weighs less than a man's and that therefore she can be indifferent to the sciences, to the arts, to the tasks of culture in general. The apprentice to the shoemaker or the house painter has a brain of smaller size than the grown-up man too, yet he works, suffers, takes his part in the general struggle for existence. We must give up our attitude to the physiological aspect, too -- to pregnancy and childbirth, seeing that in the first place women don't have babies every month; secondly, not all women have babies; and, thirdly, a normal countrywoman works in the fields up to the day of her confinement and it does her no harm. Then there ought to be absolute equality in everyday life. If a man gives a lady his chair or picks up the handkerchief she has dropped, let her repay him in the same way. I have no objection if a girl of good family helps me to put on my coat or hands me a glass of water -- .Anton Chekhov
About This Quote
Madame de Stael was an influential French author and political figure at the turn of the 19th century. She was also the wife of Napoleon's foreign minister, Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord. In her book, "On Women," she explains that little girls should be raised alongside boys so they can be taught to respect their elders and superiors. This is because a woman must have a sense of self-worth before she can be respected by her peers.
If a little girl is raised with no respect for others, then the only person that will have any respect for her is herself. It is important to teach girls how to think logically and critically about events going on around them, rather than just believing whatever they are told.
Some Similar Quotes
- A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment.
- I would always rather be happy than dignified.
- Well, it seems to me that the best relationships - the ones that last - are frequently the ones that are rooted in friendship. You know, one day you look at the person and you see something more than you did the night before. Like...
- It’s probably not just by chance that I’m alone. It would be very hard for a man to live with me, unless he’s terribly strong. And if he’s stronger than I, I’m the one who can’t live with him. … I’m neither smart nor stupid,...
- I am not an angel, ' I asserted; 'and I will not be one till I die: I will be myself. Mr. Rochester, you must neither expect nor exact anything celestial of me - for you will not get it, any more than I shall...
More Quotes By Anton Chekhov
- You have lost your reason and taken the wrong path. You have taken lies for truth, and hideousness for beauty. You would marvel if, owing to strange events of some sorts, frogs and lizards suddenly grew on apple and orange trees instead of fruit, or...
- The illusion which exalts us is dearer to us than ten thousand truths.
- Wisdom.... comes not from age, but from education and learning.
- And I despise your books, I despise wisdom and the blessings of this world. It is all worthless, fleeting, illusory, and deceptive, like a mirage. You may be proud, wise, and fine, but death will wipe you off the face of the earth as though...
- Even in Siberia there is happiness.