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Mary Shelley Quotes

Browse 14 quotes about Mary Shelley.

Mary Shelley Quotes

“What have we left to dream about? The clouds are no longer the charioted servants of the sun, nor does he any more bathe his glowing brow in the bath of Thetis; the rainbow has ceased to be the messenger of the Gods, and hunger longer their awful voice, warning man of that which is to come. We have the sun which has been weighed and measured, but not understood; we have the assemblage of the planets, the congregation of the stars, and the yet unshackled ministration of the winds: - such is the list of our ignorance.”

“But in truth, neither the lonely meditations of the hermit nor the turmulos raptures of the reveller, are capable of satisfying man’s heart. From the one we gather unquiet speculation, from the other satiety. The mind flags beneath the weight of thought, and droops in thee heartless intercourse of those whose sole aim is amusement. There is no fruition in their vacant kindness, and sharp rocs lur beneath the smiling ripples of these shallow waters.”

“The Night When Fear Strays by Stewart Stafford Each Hallowtide, all monstrous shapes do quail, No balm for wounded wretches feeling frail, Spectators as charlatan mortals filch frights, Appropriated skins on haunted nights. With bonfire’s glow ablaze in dauntless eyes, Children’s fun quelled by strangest sighs, A hulking shape, once fierce, wails tainted, Its fearful gaze in phantom mists attainted. Small, tender hands caressed its sodden fur, A trembling growl betrayed its lonesome blur, “Peace, gentle shade, what sorrow stirs unfed?” “November’s dawn shall call me home,” it said. Their kindly-shared oat cakes eased its pangs, A webbed claw from veiled night to munching fangs, It feasted with a hunger born of striven years alone, Stroked the child’s cheek for the kindness shown. When parents called, it whispered, soft and torn, “At midnight’s knell, this thicket heralds morn— Go, kindred babes, I’ll linger in this glade. Each Halloween, I’ll mourn my fear remade.” © 2025, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.”

“More than anything, I began to hate women writers. Frances Burney, Jane Austen, Elizabeth Browning, Mary Shelley, George Eliot, Virginia Woolf. Bronte, Bronte, and Bronte. I began to resent Emily, Anne, and Charlotte—my old friends—with a terrifying passion. They were not only talented; they were brave, a trait I admired more than anything but couldn't seem to possess. The world that raised these women hadn't allowed them to write, yet they had spun fiery novels in spite of all the odds. Meanwhile, I was failing with all the odds tipped in my favor. Here I was, living out Virginia Woolf's wildest feminist fantasy. I was in a room of my own. The world was no longer saying, "Write? What's the good of your writing?" but was instead saying "Write if you choose; it makes no difference to me.”

“Pero ¿Dónde estaban mis amigos y familiares? No había tenido un padre que cuidase de mi infancia, ni una madre que me bendijese con sus sonrisas y caricias; y si los tuve, toda mi vida pasada no era sino tiniebla, un ciego vacío que no distinguía nada. Desde el principio de mis recuerdos, había sido como era entonces en estatura y proporción. Hasta ahora, nunca había visto a un ser que se pareciese a mí ni pretendiese contacto alguno conmigo. ¿ Qué era yo? La pregunta me surgía una y otra vez, sólo para contestarla con gemidos”

“Mary, la hija, pasó la infancia viendo su nombre escrito sobre ua tumba. Una madre desconocida - que llevaba su mismo nombre- había muerto al darla a luz, y eso la llevó a cavilar la vida entera sobre los misterios del naiemiento, y sobre la asombrosa proximidad que hay entre la vida y la muerte. Se sentía parida por la tumba, una tumba ella misma, y su nombre y su epitafio tallados sobre una piedra gris la persiguieron en la luz y en la sombra.”