“Few, I believe, have had much affection for mankind, who did not first love their parents, their brothers, sisters, and even the domestic brutes, whom they first played with.”

They are the men of fancy, the favourites of the sex, who outwardly respect, and inwardly despise the weak creatures whom they thus sport with.

It may be impossible to convince women that the illegitimate power which they obtain by degrading themselves is a curse.

Pope’s summary of their character to be just, that every woman is at heart a rake.

Rousseau exerts himself to prove that all was right originally: a crowd of authors that all is now right: and I, that all will be right.

As sound politics diffuse liberty, mankind, including woman, will become more wise and virtuous.

And if then women do not resign the arbitrary power of beauty – they will prove that they have less mind than man.

Men who are inferior to their fellow men, are always most anxious to establish their superiority over women.

She was created to be the toy of man, his rattle, and it must jingle in his ears whenever, dismissing reason, he chooses to be amused.

If then women are not a swarm of ephemeron triflers, why should they be kept in ignorance under the specious name of innocence?

The power of generalizing ideas, of drawing comprehensive conclusions from individual observations, is the only acquirement, for an immortal being, that really deserves the name of knowledge.

It is not necessary for me always to premise, that I speak of the condition of the whole sex, leaving exceptions out of the question.

Simplicity and sincerity generally go hand in hand, as both proceed from a love of truth.

I shall not waste my time in rounding periods, nor in fabricating the turgid bombast of artificial feelings, which, coming from the head, never reach the heart.

After attacking the sacred majesty of Kings, I shall scarcely excite surprise by adding my firm persuasion that every profession, in which great subordination of rank constitutes its power, is highly injurious to morality.

I like to see your eyes praise me and, during such recitals, there are interruptions, not ungrateful to the heart, when the honey that drops from the lips is not merely words.

They who pass their whole lives in working for their daily bread, have no ideas beyond their business or their interest, and all their understanding seems to lie in their fingers ends.

Man does not live by murder alone. He needs affection, approval, encouragement and, occasionally, a hearty meal.

It is not because other people are dead that our affection for them grows faint, it is because we ourselves are dying.

I would tell anyone who wants something from someone else to feign not wanting it. People are perverse. If you show great affection to them, they’ll run the other way.

We fear rejection, want attention, crave affection, and dream of perfection.

Once you have drunk from the water of unconditional love, no other well can satisfy your thirst. The pangs of separation may become so intense that seeking the affection of the Beloved becomes an obsession.

You should not have taken advantage of my sensibility to steal into my affections without my consent.

Parental affection is, perhaps, the blindest modification of perverse self-love

Friendship is a serious affection; the most sublime of all affections, because it is founded on principle, and cemented by time.