But, alas! What poor Woman is ever taught that she should have a higher Design than to get her a Husband?

— Mary Astell

God is His own Design and End, and that there is no other Worthy of Him.

— Mary Astell

How can you be content to be in the world like tulips in a garden, to make a fine show, and be good for nothing.

— Mary Astell

If all men are born free, how is it that all women are born slaves?

— Mary Astell

Ignorance and a narrow education lay the foundation of vice, and imitation and custom rear it up.

— Mary Astell

The design of Rhetoric is to remove those Prejudices that lie in the way of Truth, to Reduce the Passions to the Government of Reasons; to place our Subject in a Right Light, and excite our Hearers to a due consideration of it.

— Mary Astell

Truth is strong, and sometime or others will prevail.

— Mary Astell