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We too often mistake individuals’ honor for race development and so are ready to substitute pretty accomplishments for sound sense and earnest purpose.

— Anna J. Cooper A Voice from the South by a Black Woman of the South (1892)

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More quotes by Anna J. Cooper

Respect for woman, the much lauded chivalry of the Middle Ages, meant what I fear it still means to some men in our own day—respect for the elect few among whom they expect to consort.

A Voice from the South by a Black Woman of the South (1892)

To me, faith means treating the truth as true.

A Voice from the South by a Black Woman of the South (1892)

Our God is power; strength, our standard of excellence, inherited from barbarian ancestors through a long line of male progenitors, the Law Salic permitting no feminine modifications.

A Voice from the South by a Black Woman of the South (1892)

"I am my Sister's keeper!" should be the hearty response of every man and woman of the race, and this conviction should purify and exalt the narrow, selfish and petty personal aims of life into a noble and sacred purpose.

A Voice from the South by a Black Woman of the South (1892)

Since the idea of order and subordination succumbed to barbarian brawn and brutality in the fifth century, the civilized world has been like a child brought up by his father. It has needed the great mother heart to teach it to be pitiful, to love mercy, to succor the weak and care for the lowly.

A Voice from the South by a Black Woman of the South (1892)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Anna J. Cooper (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.