Margaret Fuller
American transcendentalist writer (1810 to 1850); philosopher, journalist and literary critic; author of Woman in the Nineteenth Century (1845).
Margaret Fuller did not write this page.
We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.
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Their wordsIt may well be an Anti-Slavery party that pleads for Woman, if we consider merely that she does not hold property on equal terms with men; so that, if a husband dies without making a will, the wife, instead of taking at once his place as head of the family, inherits only a part of his fortune, often brought him by herself, as if she were a child, or ward only, not an equal partner.
↗Woman in the Nineteenth Century (1845; 1855 edition)gutenberg.org 1st of 7 in this piece
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Our reading
What women need is not to act or rule as women, but to grow, discern and live freely and unimpeded
Their wordsWhat Woman needs is not as a woman to act or rule, but as a nature to grow, as an intellect to discern, as a soul to live freely and unimpeded, to unfold such powers as were given her when we left our common home.
↗Woman in the Nineteenth Century (1845; 1855 edition)gutenberg.org 2nd of 7 in this piece
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Their wordsMale and female represent the two sides of the great radical dualism. But, in fact, they are perpetually passing into one another. Fluid hardens to solid, solid rushes to fluid. There is no wholly masculine man, no purely feminine woman.
↗Woman in the Nineteenth Century (1845; 1855 edition)gutenberg.org 3rd of 7 in this piece
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Their wordsI believe that, at present, women are the best helpers of one another.
↗Woman in the Nineteenth Century (1845; 1855 edition)gutenberg.org 4th of 7 in this piece
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Their wordsWe only ask of men to remove arbitrary barriers. Some would like to do more. But I believe it needs that Woman show herself in her native dignity, to teach them how to aid her; their minds are so encumbered by tradition.
↗Woman in the Nineteenth Century (1845; 1855 edition)gutenberg.org 5th of 7 in this piece
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Their wordsBut if you ask me what offices they may fill, I reply—any. I do not care what case you put; let them be sea-captains, if you will.
↗Woman in the Nineteenth Century (1845; 1855 edition)gutenberg.org 6th of 7 in this piece
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Their wordsI think women need, especially at this juncture, a much greater range of occupation than they have, to rouse their latent powers.
↗Woman in the Nineteenth Century (1845; 1855 edition)gutenberg.org 7th of 7 in this piece
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