Mary Shelley Quotes

"My dreams were at once more fantastic and agreeable than my writings."

"My dreams were all my own; I accounted for them to nobody; they were my refuge when annoyed - my dearest pleasure when free."

"The scene of my existence is closed & though there be no pleasure in retracing the scenes that have preceded the event which has crushed my hopes yet there seems to be a necessity in doing so, and I obey the impulse that urges me."

"It is a farce to call any being virtuous whose virtues do not result from the exercise of it's own reason"

"Women are told from their infancy, and taught by the example of their mothers, that a little knowledge of human weakness, justly termed cunning, softness of temper, outward obedience and a scrupulous attention to a puerile kind of propriety, will obtain for them the protection of man."

"The same energy of character which renders a man a daring villain would have rendered him useful in society, had that society been well organized."

"Elegance is inferior to virtue."

"I shall live to improve myself, to take care of my child and to render myself worthy to join him. Soon my weary pilgrimage will begin."

"I do not wish them to have power over men, but over themselves."

"I am very averse to bringing myself forward in print, but as my account will only appear as an appendage to a former production, and as it will be confined to such topics as have connection with my authorship alone, I can hardly accuse myself of a personal intrusion."

"Life is obstinate and clings closest where it is most hated."

"Teach him to think for himself? Oh, my God, teach him rather to think like other people!"

"A slavish bondage to parents cramps every faculty of the mind."

"The very winds whispered in soothing accents, and maternal Nature bade me weep no more."

"We are tomorrow's past."

"Standing armies can never consist of resolute robust men; they may be well-disciplined machines, but they will seldom contain men under the influence of strong passions, or with very vigorous faculties."

"Children, I grant, should be innocent; but when the epithet is applied to men, or women, it is but a civil term for weakness."

"Invention, it must be humbly admitted, does not consist of creating out of void, but out of chaos"

"The agony of my feelings allowed me no respite; no incident occurred from which my rage and misery could not extract its food . . ."

"At boarding schools the relaxation of the junior boys is mischief, and of the seniors vice"