My only books
Were woman's looks,
And folly's all they've taught me.
The virtue of her lively looks
Excels the precious stone;
I wish to have none other books
To read or look upon.
Songs and Sonnets. (1557)
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{{Hoyt quote
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| text = <poem>For if a young lady has that discretion and
modesty, without which all knowledge is little
worth, she will never make an ostentatious parade of it, because she will rather be intent on
acquiring more, than on displaying what she has.
Hannah More—Essays on Various Subjects.
Thoughts on Conversation.
Queens you must always be: queens to your
lovers; queens to your husbands and your sons,
queens of higher mystery to the world beyond.
. . . But, alas, you are too often idle and careless queens, grasping at majesty in the least
things, while you abdicate it in the greatest.
D. M. Mulock. Quoted from Ruskin on
the title page of The Woman's Kingdom.
| seealso = (See also Pope)
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{{Hoyt quote
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| text = <poem>A penniless lass wi' a lang pedigree.
Lady Nairne—The Laird o' Cockpen.
So I wonder a woman, the Mistress of Hearts,
Should ascend to aspire to be Master of Arts;
A Ministering Angel in Woman we see,
And an Angel need cover no other Degree.
Lord Neaves—why should a Woman not
get a Degree?
Who trusts himself to women, or to waves,
Should never hazard what he fears to lose.
Oldmtxon—Governor of Cyprus.
What mighty ills have not been done by woman!
Who was't betray'd the Capitol? A woman;
Who lost Mark Antony the world? A woman;
Who was the cause of a long ten years' war,
And laid at last old Troy in ashes? Woman;
Destructive, damnable, deceitful woman!
Thomas Otwat—TheOrphan. Actlll. Sc. 1.
Who can describe
Women's hypocrisies! their subtle wiles,
Betraying smiles, feign'd tears, inconstancies!
Their painted outsides, and corrupted minds,
The sum of all their follies, and their falsehoods.
Thomas Otway—Orpheus.
O woman! lovely woman! Nature made thee
To temper man: we had been brutes without
you;
Angels are painted fair, to look like you:
There's in you all that we believe of Heaven,
Amazing brightness, purity, and truth,
Eternal joy, and everlasting love.
Thomas Otway—Venice Preserved. Act I.
Sc. 1.
Wit and woman are two frail things, and both
the frailer by concurring.
Thomas Overbchy—News from Court. Web'ster—Devil's Law. Act I. Sc. 2.
| seealso = (See also FaANgois I.)
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{{Hoyt quote
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| text = <poem>Still an angel appear t« each lover beside,
But still be a woman to you.
Parkei/L—When thy Beauty Appears.
Ah, wasteful woman! she who may
On her sweet self set her own price,
Knowing man cannot choose but pay,
How has she cheapen'd Paradise!
How given for nought her priceless gift,
How spoil'd the bread and spill 'd the wine,
Which, spent with due respective thrift,
Had made brutes men and men divine.
Coventry Patmore—The Angelin the House.
Unthrift. Bk. I. Canto III. 3.
'
To chase the clouds of life's tempestuous hours,
To strew its short but weary way with flow'rs,
New hopes to raise, new feelings to impart,
And pour celestial balsam on the heart;
For this to man was lovely woman giv'n,
The last, best work, the noblest gift of Heav"n.
Thomas Love Peacock—TheVisionsofLove.
Those who always speak well of women do
not know them sufficiently; those who always
speak ill of them do not know them at all.
GunxAUME Pigault-Lebrun.
Nam multum loquaces merito omnes habemus,
Nee mutam profecto repertam ullam esse
Hodie dicunt mulierem ullo in seculo.
I know that we women are all justly accounted praters; they say in the present day
that there never was in any age such a wonder to be found as a dumb woman.
Plautus—Avlularia. II. 1. 5.
Multa sunt mulierum vitia, sed hoc e multis
maximum,
Cum sibi nimis placent, nimisque operam dant
ut placeant viris.
Women have many faults, but of the many
this is the greatest, that they please themselves too much, and give too little attention
to pleasing the men.
Plautus—Pcemdus. V. 4. 33.
Mulieri nimio male facere melius est onus,
quam bene.
A woman finds it much easier to do ill than
well.
Plautus—Truculentus. II. 5. 17.
{{Hoyt quote
| num = | text = <poem>Oh! say not woman's heart is bought
With vain and empty treasure. • * * * * * Deep in her heart the passion glows; She loves and loves forever. Isaac Pocock. Song, in The Heir of Vironi, produced at Covent Garden, Feb. 27, 1817.
,
Our grandsire, Adam, ere of Eve possesst, Alone, and e'en in Paradise unblest, With mournful looks the blissful scenes survey 'd,
