35 Elizabeth Cady Stanton Quotes From One Of The Leaders Of The Women's Rights Movement

Srija Chanda
Dec 12, 2023 By Srija Chanda
Originally Published on Feb 23, 2021
Edited by Jacob Fitzbright
A view from Central Park showing a statue dedicated to Women's Rights pioneers Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
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Elizabeth Cady Stanton was one of the leaders of America's women's rights movement.

She helped draft the first document that rallied for women's suffrage in the US. She was also a human rights activist and abolitionist who worked in close proximity to Susan B Anthony.

She is best known for creating the agenda that helped formulate the guidelines for the women's rights movement in the 20th century, titled 'The Declaration Of Sentiments'. It was first exhibited at the Seneca Falls Convention. Many people hail her as a hero because of her bravery, determination, courage, and selflessness in the fight to avail equal rights for women. Due to her efforts, many of the laws that marginalized women and limited their personal autonomy were scrapped or remodeled. If you're looking for some amazing women's rights quotes, the women's bible quotes, or some quotes about Elizabeth Cady Stanton, you're in the right place. Here are some of the best Elizabeth Cady Stanton quotes, all for you!

If you liked these Elizabeth Cady Stanton quotes, you should check out women's rights quotes  and Emmeline Pankhurst quotes.

Famous Elizabeth Cady Stanton Quotes

Here are some famous Elizabeth Cady Stanton quotes.

1. "Come, come, my conservative friend, wipe the dew off your spectacles, and see that the world is moving."

- Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

2. "To throw obstacles in the way of a complete education is like putting out the eyes."

- Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

3. "Think of the inconvenience of vanishing as it were from your friends and, correspondents three times in one's natural life."

- Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

4. "Nothing strengthens the judgement and quickens the conscience like individual responsibility."

- Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

5. "I thought that the chief thing to be done in order to equal boys was to be learned and courageous. So I decided to study Greek and learn to manage a horse."

- Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

6. "Woman's discontent increases in exact proportion to her development."

- Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

7. "Self-development is a higher duty than self-sacrifice."

- Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

8. "I am always busy, which is perhaps the chief reason why I am always well."

- Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

9. "With age come the inner, the higher life. Who would be forever young, to dwell always in externals?"

- Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

10. "In youth our most bitter disappointments, our brightest hopes and ambitions, are known only to ourselves."

- Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

11. "All who live to a good old age have a genius for sleep."

- Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

12. “Love is the vital essence that pervades and permeates, from the center to the circumference, the graduating circles of all thought and action."

- Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

13."The happiest people I have known have been those who gave themselves no concern about their own souls, but did their uttermost to mitigate the miseries of others."

- Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

14."The heyday of woman's life is the shady side of fifty."

- Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

15. "Truth is the only safe ground to stand on."

- Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

16. "The great lesson that nature seems to teach us at all ages is self-dependence, self-protection, self-support."

- Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

17. "The desire to please those we admire and respect often cripples conscience."

- Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

18.  "The great fault of mankind is that it will not think."

- Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton Quotes About The Women's Rights Movement

Protest against Poland's abortion laws, Women's rights are human rights.

Here are some of the best Elizabeth Cady Stanton quotes about women's rights.

19. "I would have girls regard themselves not as adjectives, but as nouns."

- Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

20. "The best protection any woman can have is courage."

- Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

21. "The prolonged slavery of women is the darkest page in human history."

- Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

22. "The ballot is the scepter of power in the hands of every citizen. Woman can never have an equal chance with man in the struggle of life until she too wields this power."

- Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

23. "When we consider that women are treated as property it is degrading to women that we should treat our children as property to be disposed of as we see fit."

- Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

24. "Whatever oppressions man has suffered, they have invariably fallen more heavily on woman."

- Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

25. "It has taken the whole power of the civil and canon law to hold woman in the subordinate position which it is said she willingly accepts."

- Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

26. "We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men and women are created equal."

- Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

27. "Because man and woman are the complement of one another, we need woman's thought in national affairs to make a safe and stable government."

- Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

28. "We cannot accept any code or creed that uniformly defrauds woman of all her natural rights."

- Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

29. "The history of the past is but one long struggle upward to equality."

- Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

30. "They who say that women do not desire the right of suffrage, that they prefer masculine domination to self-government, falsify every page of history, every fact in human experience."

- Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

31. "Seeing then that life must ever be a march and a battle, that each soldier must be equipped for his own protection, it is the height of cruelty to rob the individual of a single natural right."

- Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

32. "The primal work in every country, for its own safety, should be the education and freedom of woman."

- Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

33. "No matter how much women prefer to lean, to be protected and supported, nor how much men desire to have them do so, they must make the voyage of life alone, and for safety in an emergency they must know something of the laws of navigation."

- Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

Church And Bible Quotes From Elizabeth Cady Stanton

If you want to know Stanton's views about the church, these quotes will help you navigate her point of view.

34. "The Bible and the Church have been the greatest stumbling blocks in the way of women's emancipation."

- Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

35. "I do not believe that any man ever saw or talked with God, I do not believe that God inspired the Mosaic code, or told the historians what they say he did about woman."

- Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Elizabeth Cady Stanton quotes then why not take a look at activism quotes, or female empowerment quotes.

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second image credit: CameraCraft / Shutterstock.com

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Written by Srija Chanda

Master of Arts specializing in Mass Communication/Media Studies

Srija Chanda picture

Srija ChandaMaster of Arts specializing in Mass Communication/Media Studies

An aspiring media professional, Srija is currently pursuing her Master's degree in Mass Communication at St. Xavier's University, Kolkata, after completing her degree in journalism. With experience in PR and social media, she has also honed her leadership skills through her participation in a youth parliament. Srija's interests include devouring books, watching movies, and exploring new places through travel.

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