“In the present state of society it appears necessary to go back to first principles in search of the most simple truths, and to dispute with some prevailing prejudice every inch of ground. To clear my way, I must be allowed to ask some plain questions, and the answers will probably appear as unequivocal as the axioms on which reasoning is built; though, when entangled with various motives of action, they are formally contradicted either by the words or conduct of men.”
Source: A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), Ch. 1, opening
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Mary Wollstonecraft 44
British writer and philosopher 1759–1797Related quotes

“The ground which a colored man occupies in this country is, every inch of it, sternly disputed.”
Speech at the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society annual meeting, New York City (May 1853)
1850s
[Stacy McGaugh, http://astroweb.case.edu/ssm/mond/boileddown.html, "The MOND Issue"] at astroweb.case.edu. Accessed 2014.

The Art of Persuasion

Wilmington News-Journal
2006-11-12
On the question "When and what was responsible for you becoming interested in your academic discipline?" http://www.kcl.ac.uk/aboutkings/governance/equality/meettheprofessors/artshums/mantognazza.aspx, at kcl.ac.uk, 2015.