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Some Brains Are Barren Grounds, That Will Not Bring Seed Or Fruit Forth, Unless They Are Well Manured With The Old Wit Which Is Raked From Other Writers And Speakers.

-Margaret Cavendish

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Some Brains Are Barren

Margaret Cavendish

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Some Brains Are Barren Grounds, That Will Not Bring Seed Or Fruit Forth, Unless They Are Well Manured With The Old Wit Which Is Raked From Other Writers And Speakers.

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Marriage Is The Grave Or Tomb Of Wit.

One May Be My Very Good Friend, And Yet Not Of My Opinion.

Some Brains Are Barren Grounds, That Will Not Bring Seed Or Fruit Forth, Unless They Are Well Manured With The Old Wit Which Is Raked From Other Writers And Speakers.

And Not Only My Own Brothers And Sisters Agreed So But My Brothers And Sisters In Law; And Their Children, Although But Young, Had The Like Agreeable Natures And Affectionate Dispositions.

Indeed I Had Not Much Wit, Yet I Was Not An Idiot - My Wit Was According To My Years.

First, They Were Bred When I Was Not Capable To Observe Or Before I Was Born; Likewise The Breeding Of Men Is Of A Different Manner From That Of Women.

Not That I Am Ashamed Of My Mind Or Body, My Birth Or Breeding, My Actions Or Fortunes, For My Bashfulness Is In My Nature, Not For Any Crime.

In Such Misfortunes My Mother Was Of An Heroic Spirit, In Suffering Patiently When There Was No Remedy, And Being Industrious Where She Thought She Could Help.

But If Our Sex Would But Well Consider And Rationally Ponder, They Will Perceive And Find That It Is Neither Words Nor Place That Can Advance Them, But Worth And Merit.

Indeed I Did Not Stand As A Beggar At The Parliament Door, For I Never Was At The Parliament-house, Nor Stood I Ever At The Door As I Do Know Or Can Remember; Not As A Petitioner I Am Sure.

And Though I Might Have Learnt More Wit And Advanced My Understanding By Living In A Court, Yet Being Dull, Fearful And Bashful, I Neither Heeded What Was Said Or Practised, But Just What Belonged To My Loyal Duty And My Own Honest Reputation.

As For Plenty, We Had Not Only For Necessity, Conveniency And Decency, But For Delight And Pleasure To Superfluity.

For I, Hearing My Lord's Estate Amongst Many More Estates Was To Be Sold, And That The Wives Of The Owners Should Have An Allowance Therefrom, It Gave Me Hopes I Should Receive A Benefit Thereby.

For I Had Rather Die In The Adventure Ot Noble Achievements, Then Live In Obscure And Sluggish Security.

Pain And Oblivion Make Mankind Afraid To Die; But All Creatures Are Afraid Of The One, None But Mankind Afraid Of The Other.

Nature, Being A Wise And Provident Lady, Governs Her Parts Very Wisely, Methodically, And Orderly: Also, She Is Very Industrious And Hates To Be Idle, Which Makes Her Employ Her Time As A Good Housewife Doth.

Indeed, I Was So Afraid To Dishonour My Friends And Family By My Indiscreet Actions, That I Rather Chose To Be Accounted A Fool, Than To Be Thought Rude Or Wanton.

Family And Friends

And Though My Lord Hath Lost His Estate And Been Banished Out Of His Country, Yet Neither Despised Poverty Nor Pinching Necessity Could Make Him Break The Bonds Of Friendship Or Weaken His Loyal Duty.

Prosperity Is Like Perfume, It Often Makes The Head Ache.

Not Because They Were Servants Were We So Reserved, For Many Noble Persons Are Forced To Serve Through Necessity, But By Reason The Vulgar Sort Of Servants Are As Ill Bred As Meanly Born, Giving Children Ill Examples And Worse Counsel.

As For Our Garments, My Mother Did Not Only Delight To See Us Neat And Cleanly, Fine And Gay, But Rich And Costly: Maintaining Us To The Heighth Of Her Estate, But Not Beyond It.

Who Can Perswade More Powerfully Than Poets?

Everyone's Conscience In Religion Is Between God And Themselves, And It Belongs To None Other.

If Atomes Are As Small, As Small Can Bee,they Must In Quantity Of Matter All Agree

My Other Brother, The Lord Lucas, Who Was Heir To My Fathers Estate, And As It Were The Father To Take Care Of Us All, Is Not Less Valiant Than They Were, Although His Skill In The Discipline Of War Was Not So Much, Being Not Bred Therein.

Thoughts Are Like Stars In The Firmament; Some Are Fixed, Others Like The Wandering Planets, Others Again Are Only Like Meteors. Understanding Is Like The Sun, Which Gives Light To All The Thoughts. Memory Is Like The Moon, It Hath Its New, Its Full And Its Wane.

I Think A Bad Husband Is Far Worse Than No Husband.

My Mother Was A Good Mistress To Her Servants, Taking Care Of Them In Their Sicknesses, Not Sparing Any Cost She Was Able To Bestow For Their Recovery.

The Truth Is, We [women] Live Like Bats, Or Owls, Labor Like Beasts, And Die Like Worms.

For Pleasure, Delight, Peace And Felicity Live In Method And Temperance.

For Disorder Obstructs: Besides, It Doth Disgust Life, Distract The Appetities, And Yield No True Relish To The Senses.

A Rude Nature Is Worse Than A Brute Nature By So Much More As Man Is Better Than A Beast: And Those That Are Of Civil Natures And Genteel Dispositions Are As Much Nearer To Celestial Creatures As Those That Are Rude And Cruel Are To Devils.

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