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Woman, a pleasing but a short-lived flower,
Too soft for business and too weak for power:
A wife in bondage, or neglected maid:
Despised, if ugly; if she’s fair, betrayed.

— Mary Leapor

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More quotes by Mary Leapor

In spite of all romantic poets sing,
This gold, my dearest, is an useful thing.

Woman, a pleasing but a short-lived flow'r,
Too soft for business and too weak for pow'r:
A wife in bondage, or neglected maid;
Despised, if ugly; if she's fair, betrayed.

An Essay on Woman (1746)

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