Solitude of Self (address to the House Judiciary Committee, 18 January 1892)

Elizabeth Cady Stanton did not write this page.

Every claim below was made in this book, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The book prints chapter headings its extracted text does not preserve, so the claims below are in the book's order but not grouped. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.

Our reading
The broadest education best fits a woman for whatever special work she must do

Their wordsThe education that will fit her to discharge the duties in the largest sphere of human usefulness will best fit her for whatever special work she may be compelled to do.
Our reading
The isolation of each soul gives every individual the right to choose their own surroundings

Their wordsThe isolation of every human soul and the necessity of self-dependence must give each individual the right, to choose his own surroundings.
Our reading
The solitude of a woman's own life is the strongest reason for her full education and freedom

Their wordsThe strongest reason for giving woman all the opportunities for higher education, for the full development of her faculties, forces of mind and body; for giving her the most enlarged freedom of thought and action; a complete emancipation from all forms of bondage, of custom, dependence, superstition; from all the crippling influences of fear, is the solitude and personal responsibility of her own individual life.
Our reading
Whatever women or men prefer, women face life alone and must know how to fend for themselves

Their wordsNo matter how much women prefer to lean, to be protected and supported, nor how much men desire to have them do so, they must make the voyage of life alone, and for safety in an emergency they must know something of the laws of navigation.
Our reading
Every human soul is unique, and its possibilities are found in no other

Their wordsNature never repeats herself, and the possibilities of one human soul will never be found in another.
Our reading
Since everyone must fend for themselves in life, robbing anyone of a natural right is cruel

Their wordsSeeing then that life must ever be a march and a battle, that each soldier must be equipped for his own protection, it is the height of cruelty to rob the individual of a single natural right.
Our reading
Blocking education or denying property rights cripples a person like blinding or maiming them

Their wordsTo throw obstacle in the way of a complete education is like putting out the eyes; to deny the rights of property, like cutting off the hands.
Our reading
A woman trained to dependence, with no resources in herself, will fail in any position

Their wordsAn uneducated woman, trained to dependence, with no resources in herself must make a failure of any position in life.
Our reading
The more the mind is developed and used, the longer vigor and interest last into age

Their wordsThe more fully the faculties of the mind are developed and kept in use, the longer the period of vigor and active interest in all around us continues.
Our reading
Because men and women bear the same responsibilities and destiny, they need the same preparation

Their wordsSeeing, then that the responsibilities of life rests equally on man and woman, that their destiny is the same, they need the same preparation for time and eternity.
Our reading
No one can or dare take on the rights, duties and responsibilities of another person

Their wordsWho, I ask you, can take, dare take, on himself the rights, the duties, the responsibilities of another human soul?

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