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Charlotte Perkins Gilman Quotes

Novelist

Charlotte Perkins Gilman was an American novelist, social reformer, and feminist. Her works explored the status of women in society, family, and career, and had a profound impact on women's literature and social movements.

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Famous Charlotte Perkins Gilman Quotes

“So when the great word "Mother!" rang once more, I saw at last its meaning and its place; Not the blind passion of the brooding past, But Mother -- the World's Mother -- come at last, To love as she had never loved before -- To feed and guard and teach the human race.”

World Inspirational Humans Lasts Past Mother Passion Race Teach Saws Blind Human Race Blindness Brooding

Book:Delphi Complete Works of Charlotte Perkins Gilman (Illustrated)

Source: Delphi Complete Works of Charlotte Perkins Gilman (Illustrated)

“A million million worlds that move in peace;A million mighty laws that never cease;And one small ant-heap, hidden by small weeds,Rich with eggs, slaves and store of millet-seeds.They sleep beneath the sodAnd trust in God.”

World Moving Law Sleep Millions Rich Slave Seeds Stores Cease Eggs Weed Trust In God Ants

Book:Charlotte Perkins Gilman's In this Our World and Uncollected Poems

Source: Charlotte Perkins Gilman's In this Our World and Uncollected Poems

“A normal feminine influence in recasting our religious assumptions will do more than any other one thing to improve the world.”

World Religious One Thing Atheism Influence Normal Positive Atheism Assumption Feminine

Book:His Religion and Hers: A Study of the Faith of Our Fathers and the Work of Our Mothers

Source: His Religion and Hers: A Study of the Faith of Our Fathers and the Work of Our Mothers

“The world is quite right. It does not have to be consistent.”

World Doe Consistent

Book:Women and Economics

Source: Women and Economics

“Shall you complain who feed the world? Who clothe the world? Who house the world? Shall you complain who are the world, Of what the world may do? As from this hour You use your power, The world must follow you!”

World May Use House Hours Labor Complaining

Book:Delphi Complete Works of Charlotte Perkins Gilman (Illustrated)

Source: Delphi Complete Works of Charlotte Perkins Gilman (Illustrated)

“It cannot be too strongly asserted that the insistence on blind, unreasoning faith is due mainly to the maintenance of a subject-matter upon which there was no knowledge, namely the 'other world'; and that this basis was assumed because of early man's preoccupation with death. It is, unfortunately, quite possible to believe a thing which is contradicted by facts, especially if the facts are not generally known; but if the whole position on which we rested our religions had been visibly opposed by what we did know, even the unthinking masses would, in time, have noticed it.”

Source: His Religion and Hers: A Study of the Faith of Our Fathers and the Work of Our Mothers

“If only religion could be brought to take an interest in this earthly future, what a help it would be! ... Think of the appeal to the less spiritual of us, to those who never did get enthusiastic about eternity, or care so tenderly about their own souls, yet who could rise to the thought of improving this world for the children they love, and their children after them.”

Ifs Thinking World Children Soul Helping Would Be Care Spiritual Interest This World Eternity Appeals Improving Enthusiastic

Book:His Religion and Hers: A Study of the Faith of Our Fathers and the Work of Our Mothers

Source: His Religion and Hers: A Study of the Faith of Our Fathers and the Work of Our Mothers

“No matter what the belief, if it had modestly said, 'This is our best thought, go on, think farther!' then we could have smoothly outgrown our early errors and long since have developed a religion such as would have kept pace with an advancing world. But we were made to believe and not allowed to think. We were told to obey, rather than to experiment and investigate.”

Ifs Thinking World Believe Long Made Said Matter Belief Goes On No Matter What Errors Experiments Pace Advancing

Book:His Religion and Hers: A Study of the Faith of Our Fathers and the Work of Our Mothers

Source: His Religion and Hers: A Study of the Faith of Our Fathers and the Work of Our Mothers

“The fact that women in the home have shut themselves away from the thought and life of the world has done much to retard progress.We fill the world with the children of 20th century A.D. fathers and 20th century B.C. mothers.”

World Children Done Facts Home Mother Father Progress Century 20th Century Retard

Author:Charlotte Perkins Gilman

“This is the woman's century, the first chance for the mother of the world to rise to her full place . . . and the world waits while she powders her nose.”

World Firsts Mother Waiting Chance Century Noses Powder

Book:The Yellow Wall-Paper, Herland, and Selected Writings

Source: The Yellow Wall-Paper, Herland, and Selected Writings

“As for mother Eve - I wasn't there and can't deny the story, but I will say this. If she brought evil into the world, we men have had the lion's share of keeping it going ever since.”

Ifs Men World Stories Mother Evil Share Deny Lions

Book:The Yellow Wall-paper and Other Stories

Source: The Yellow Wall-paper and Other Stories

“To attain happiness in another world we need only to believe something, while to secure it in this world we must do something.”

World Needs Believe Happiness Belief Security This World Happy Secure Another World

Author:Charlotte Perkins Gilman

“It is the duty of youth to bring fresh new powers to bear on Social progress. Each generation of young people should be to the world like a vast reserve force to a tired army. They should life the world forward. That is what they are for.”

People World Should Young Force Social Peace Progress Generations Youth Duty Bears Army Tired Reserves Social Progress

Book:The Forerunner

Source: The Forerunner

“When the mother of the race is free, we shall have a better world, by the easy right of birth and by the calm, slow, friendly forces of evolution.”

World Mother Force Easy Race Evolution Birth Quiet Calm Friendly

Book:Women and Economics - A Study of the Economic Relation Between Men and Women as a Factor in Social Evolution: From the famous American writer, feminist, social reformer and a respected sociologist who holds an important place in feminist fiction, well-known for her stories The Yellow Wallpaper and Herland

Source: Women and Economics - A Study of the Economic Relation Between Men and Women as a Factor in Social Evolution: From the famous American writer, feminist, social reformer and a respected sociologist who holds an important place in feminist fiction, well-known for her stories The Yellow Wallpaper and Herland

“Death? Why this fuss about death? Use your imagination, try to visualize a world without death! Death is the essential condition of life, not an evil.”

World Trying Use Death Evil Imagination Conditions Dying Essentials Dying Death Aquariums Someone Dying

Book:The Living of Charlotte Perkins Gilman: An Autobiography

Source: The Living of Charlotte Perkins Gilman: An Autobiography

“The religious need of the human mind remains alive, never more so, but it demands a teaching which can be understood. Slowly an apprehension of the intimate, usable power of God is growing among us, and a growing recognition of the only worth-while application of that power-in the improvement of the world.”

Source: The Living of Charlotte Perkins Gilman: An Autobiography