The Book of the City of Ladies Quotes

“Not all men (and especially the wisest) share the opinion that it is bad for women to be educated. But it is very true that many foolish men have claimed this because it displeased them that women knew more than they did.”
― Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies

“Causing any damage or harm to one party in order to help another party is not justice, and likewise, attacking all feminine conduct [in order to warn men away from individual women who are deceitful] is contrary to the truth, just as I will show you with a hypothetical case. Let us suppose they did this intending to draw fools away from foolishness. It would be as if I attacked fire -- a very good and necessary element nevertheless -- because some people burnt themselves, or water because someone drowned. The same can be said of all good things which can be used well or used badly. But one must not attack them if fools abuse them.”
― Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies

“The man or the woman in whom resides greater virtue is the higher; neither the loftiness nor the lowliness of a person lies in the body according to the sex, but in the perfection of conduct and virtues.”
― Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies

“If it were customary to send little girls to school and teach them the same subjects as are taught to boys, they would learn just as fully and would understand the subtleties of all arts and sciences.”
― Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies

“How many women are there ... who because of their husbands' harshness spend their weary lives in the bond of marriage in greater suffering than if they were slaves among the Saracens?”
― Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies

“As for those who state that it is thanks to a woman, the lady Eve, that man was expelled from paradise, my answer to them would be that man has gained far more through Mary than he ever lost through Eve.”
― Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies

“How was she created? I'm not sure if you realize this, but it was in God's image. How can anybody dare to speak ill of something which bears such a noble imprint?”
― Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies

“[J]ust the sight of this book, even though it was of no authority, made me wonder how it happened that so many different men – and learned men among them – have been and are so inclined to express both in speaking and in their treatises and writings so many wicked insults about women and their behaviour. Not only one or two ... but, more generally, from the treatises of all philosophers and poets and from all the orators – it would take too long to mention their names – it seems that they all speak from one and the same mouth. Thinking deeply about these matters, I began to examine my character and conduct as a natural woman and, similarly, I considered other women whose company I frequently kept, princesses, great ladies, women of the middle and lower classes, who had graciously told me of their most private and intimate thoughts, hoping that I could judge impartially and in good conscience whether the testimony of so many notable men could be true. To the best of my knowledge, no matter how long I confronted or dissected the problem, I could not see or realise how their claims could be true when compared to the natural behaviour and character of women.”
― Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies

“There Adam slept, and God formed the body of woman from one of his ribs, signifying that she should stand at his side as a companion and never lie at his feet like a slave, and also that he should love her as his own flesh.”
― Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies

“My Lady, you certainly tell me about wonderful constancy, strength and virtue and firmness of women, so can one say the same thing about men? (...)

Response [by Lady Rectitude]: "Fair sweet friend, have you not yet heard the saying that the fool sees well enough a small cut in the face of his neighbour, but he disregards the great gaping one above his own eye? I will show you the great contradiction in what the men say about the changeability and inconstancy of women. It is true that they all generally insist that women are very frail [= fickle] by nature. And since they accuse women of frailty, one would suppose that they themselves take care to maintain a reputation for constancy, or at the very least, that the women are indeed less so than they are themselves. And yet, it is obvious that they demand of women greater constancy than they themselves have, for they who claim to be of this strong and noble condition cannot refrain from a whole number of very great defects and sins, and not out of ignorance, either, but out of pure malice, knowing well how badly they are misbehaving. But all this they excuse in themselves and say that it is in the nature of man to sin, yet if it so happens that any women stray into any misdeed (of which they themselves are the cause by their great power and longhandedness), then it's suddenly all frailty and inconstancy, they claim. But it seems to me that since they do call women frail, they should not support that frailty, and not ascribe to them as a great crime what in themselves they merely consider a little defect.”
― Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies

“For you know that any evil spoken of women so generally only hurts those who say it, not women themselves.”
― Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies

“She [Isis] invented a form of shorthand which she taught to the Egyptians and provided them a way to abridge their excessively involved script.”
― Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies

“Through her ingenuity she invented a shorthand Greek script in which a long written narrative could be transcribed with far fewer letters, and which is still used by the Greeks today, a fine invention whose discovery demanded great sublety. She [Minerva/Pallas (Athena)] invented numbers and a means of quickly counting and adding sums.”
― Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies

“Similarly, Medusa (or Gorgon) was celebrated for her outstanding beauty. She was a daughter of the very wealthy king Phorcys whose large kingdom was surrounded by the sea. This Medusa, according to the ancient stories, was of such striking beauty that not only did she surpass all other women--which was an amazing and supernatural thing--but she also attracted to herself, because of her pleasing appearance--her long and curly blond hair spun like gold, along with her beautiful face and body--every mortal creature upon whom she looked, so that she seemed to make people immovable. For this reason the fable claimed that they had turned to stone.”
― Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies

“De leerling, die de meester vragen stelt om wijzer te worden, moet niet worden bestraft, als hij alles wil onderzoeken.”
― Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies

“Just as women's bodies are softer than men's, so their understanding is sharper.”
― Christine de Pizan
She was the first woman in France to earn a living by her writing! Born 1364, she advocated for women's equality, wrote poetry, novels, biography, an autobiography, literary, political and religious commentary. She was the widowed mother of three and, perhaps, the first feminist!”
― Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies

“Moreover, in order to show forth her wisdom and the excellence of her mind to the centuries to come, she [Nicostrata/Carmentis] worked and studied so hard that she invented her own letters, which were completely different from those of other nations, that is, she established the Latin alphabet and syntax, spelling, the difference between the vowels and consonants, as well as a complete introduction to the science of grammar.”
― Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies

“¡Levántate, hija mía! Salgamos sin tardanza hacia el Campo de las Letras. Es allí, en aquel país rico y fértil, donde será fundada la Ciudad de las Damas”
― Cristina de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies

“El más grande es aquel o aquella que más méritos tiene. La superioridad o inferioridad de la gente no reside en su cuerpo, atendiendo a su sexo, sino en la perfección de sus hábitos y cualidades.”
― Cristina de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies

“la opinión común a todos los hombres es que las mujeres nunca sirvieron para otra cosa que para traer hijos e hilar la lana.”
― Christine de Pizan, La Ciudad de las Damas

“Amica cara, non sta a me giustificare quelle donne che pongono troppa cura ed eleganza nel vestire. È questo senza dubbio un vizio, e non piccolo. Ogni raffinatezza esteriore che superi il dovuto della propria condizione è da biasimare. Tuttavia, non tanto per giustificare un vizio, quanto per impedire che alcuni si prendano la briga di rimproverare più del dovuto quelle donne che vediamo eleganti, ti dirò che di certo non tutte lo fanno per sedurre; al contrario, capita che parecchie persone, uomini e donne, per inclinazione naturale e onesta, si dilettino nell'eleganza, in abiti belli e ricchi, nella cura di sè e nel lusso.”
― Christine de Pizan, Le Livre de la Cité des dames

“Dama, credo senz'altro a tutto quello che voi dite e sono certa che vi sono molte donne belle, nobili e caste, che si sanno ben proteggere dalle trappole degli ingannatori. Tuttavia mi irrita e mi rende triste che gli uomini dicano che le donne vogliono essere stuprate e che a loro non dispiace essere violentate, anche quando si ribellano e urlano; non riesco a credere che possano gradire una così grave villania".
Risposta: "Non dubitare, cara amica, le dame virtuose e oneste non traggono nessun piacere dall'essere violentate, ma un dolore senza paragoni.”
― Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies

“Non tutti gli uomini quindi, specialmente i più colti, condividono l'opinione che sia male l'educazione per le donne. È ben vero che molti tra quelli meno istruiti lo sostengono: sarebbero molto irritati se le donne ne sapessero più di loro.
...
Il parere femminile di tua madre, che ti voleva occupata con ago e filo nelle attività consuete delle donne, durante la tua infanzia fu l'ostacolo più grande allo studio e all'approfondimento delle scienze”
― Pizan Christine de, The Book of the City of Ladies

“Si troverebbero abbastanza donne geniali al mondo se le si volesse cercare.”
― Pizan Christine de, The Book of the City of Ladies

“Te lo ripeto, e non dubitare del contrario, che se ci fosse l'usanza di mandare le bambine a scuola e di insegnare loro le scienze come si fa con i bambini, imparerebbero altrettanto bene e capirebbero le sottigliezze di tutte le arti, così come essi fanno. E ogni tanto succede: come ti ho appena spiegato, così come le donne hanno un corpo più delicato degli uomini, più debole e meno adatto a certi compiti, esse hanno un'intelligenza più viva e più acuta là dove esse si applicano."
"Lo sai perché le donne hanno un sapere limitato?...Senza dubbio esse non hanno l'esperienza di tante situazioni differenti, ma limitandosi alle occupazioni domestiche, restano a casa, e non c'è niente di più stimolante per un essere dotato di ragione che un'esperienza ricca e varia."
"Dama, se le donne sono in grado di imparare e di ragionare quanto gli uomini, perchè non imparano di più?"
Risposta:"Mia cara, come ti ho già detto è perché la società non ha bisogno che le donne si occupino degli affari degli uomini. È abbastanza che svolgano i compiti ordinari loro affidati. E in quanto all'opinione che la loro intelligenza è mediocre, poiché di solito sanno meno degli uomini, pensa solo agli abitanti delle campagne più isolate o degli altipiani. Converrai che in alcuni paesi sono così sempliciotti, che li si potrebbe scambiare per degli animali. E nonostante ciò, è innegabile che la Natura li abbia forniti degli stessi doni fisici e intellettuali che hanno gli uomini più saggi e più eruditi che si possono trovare nei grandi centri e nelle città. Tutto ciò deriva dal non poter imparare, nonostante che, come ti ho già detto, tra gli uomini come tra le donne, alcuni sianopiù intelligenti di altri.”
― Pizan Christine de, The Book of the City of Ladies

“¿por qué los hombres, clérigos y otros, se dedican a insultar a las mujeres?”
― Christine de Pizan, La Ciudad de las Damas

“[Si las mujeres hubiesen escrito los libros, estoy segura de que lo habrían hecho de otra forma, porque ellas saben que se las acusa en falso.]”
― Christine de Pizan, La Ciudad de las Damas

“Многие мужчины ополчаются против женщин по иным причинам. Одни прибегают к клев��те из-за своих собственных пороков, другими движут их телесные изъяны, третьи поступают так из зависти, а четвертые из удовольствия, которое они получают, возводя напраслину. Есть и такие, кто жаждет показать, сколь много ими прочитано, и потому в своих писаниях они пересказывают то, что вычитали в других книгах обильно цитируя и повторяя мнения их авторов.
Из-за собственных пороков нападают на женщин те мужчины, которые провели молодость в распутстве, наслаждались любовью многих женщин, обманом добиваясь любовных «свиданий, и состарились, не раскаявшись в грехах. Теперь же они сокрушаются, что прошла пора их безумств и распутства.”
― Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies

“Yet here stand women not simply accused, but already judged, sentenced and condemned.”
― Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies

“Así, querida hija, sobre ti entre todas las mujeres recae el privilegio de edificar y levantar la Ciudad de las Damas. Para llevar a cabo esta obra, como de una fuente clara, sacarás agua viva de nosotras tres. Te proveeremos de materiales más duros y resistentes que bloques de mármol macizos que esperan a estar sellados. Así alcanzará tu Ciudad una belleza sin par que perdurará eternamente...Pero yo, la verdadera Sibila, te anuncio que la Ciudad que fundarás con nuestra ayuda nunca volverá a la nada sino que siempre permanecerá floreciente; pese a la envidia de sus enemigos, resistirá muchos asaltos, sin ser jamás tomada o vencida”
― Cristina de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies