"The supreme virtue of the virtuous woman was modesty, a form of sexual self-control, manifested not only in chastity but in decorous dress and manner, speech and deed, and in reticence in the display of her well-banked affections. A virtue, as it were, made for courtship, it served simultaneously as a source of attraction and a spur to manly ardor, a guard against a woman's own desires, as well as a defense against unworthy suitors. A fine woman understood that giving her body (in earlier times, even her kiss) meant giving her heart, which was too precious to be bestowed on anyone who would not prove himself worthy, at the very least by pledging himself in marriage to be her defender and lover forever."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Educators from the United StatesJews from the United StatesUniversity of Chicago alumniScientists from the United StatesPhysicians from Chicago
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Leon Kass
24 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Leon Kass →
Related Quotes
"In a certain sense the dietary laws push the Children of Israel back in the direction of the "original" "vegetarianis…"
"Revulsion is not an argument; and some of yesterday's repugnances are today calmly accepted—though, one must add, not…"
"Ours is the age of atomic power but also of nuclear proliferation, of globalized trade but also worldwide terrorism, …"
"Ancient science had sought knowledge of what things are, to be contemplated as an end in itself satisfying to the kno…"
"Even the modern word "concept" means "a grasping together," implying that the mind itself, in its act of knowing, fun…"
"The truths modern science finds—even about human beings—are value-neutral, in no way restraining, and indeed perfectl…"
"Could technology, understood as the disposition and activity of mastery, turn out to be a stumbling block in the path…"
"Francis Bacon, in his New Atlantis, could charge his elite scientists in Salomon’s House with practicing self-censors…"
"Many of our fellow citizens do not share the blind faith in the simple beneficence of all technological innovation. A…"
"Many lonely women, more than can safely admit it, secretly hope to meet a gentleman; but the vast majority steadfastl…"