"The way society trains its boys and girls to think about themselves and each other determines to a large extent how rape-prone or rape-free that society will be."

"Societies with a high incidence of rape ... tolerate violence and encourage men and boys to be tough, aggressive, and competitive. Men in such cultures generally have special, politically important gathering spots off limits to women, whether they be the Mundurucu men's club or the corner tavern. Women take little or no part in public decision making or religious rituals: men mock or scorn women's practical judgment. They also demean what they consider women's work and remain aloof from childbearing and rearing. These groups usually trace their beginnings to a male supreme being."

"Rapists often recall being intensely angry, depressed or feeling worthless for days or even months leading up to the rape. Very often the rapists say that the trigger for the rape was when a woman made them angry, usually by rebuffing a sexual overture. The men experienced the rebuff as an insult to their manhood that intensified their emotional misery."

"If an accused man believed the woman had consented, whether or not that belief was based on reasonable grounds, he could not be found guilty of rape."

"There was a young fellow named Scott Who took a girl out on his yacht, But too lazy to rape her He made darts of brown paper Which he languidly tossed at her twat."

"Perhaps it is the only crime in which the victim becomes the accused and, in reality, it is she who must prove her good reputation, her mental soundness, and her impeccable propriety."

"He expressed some of his desire by a grunt. If he only had the courage to throw himself on her. Nothing less violent than rape would do. The sensation he felt was like that he got when holding an egg in his hand. Not that she was fragile or even seemed fragile. It wasn’t that. It was her completeness, her egglike self-sufficiency, that made him want to crush her."

"Rape is like bad weather: if it's inevitable, you might as well relax and enjoy it."

"Thou hast a daughter, thou hast a wife too; So most of you have, soldiers; why might not this Have happen'd you? Which of you all, dear friends, But now, even now, may have your wives deflower'd, Your daughters slav'd, and made a lictor's prey? Think them not safe in Rome, for mine liv'd there."

"Women are terrified of being raped, but somewhere in the back of every womb there is one rebellious nerve end that tingles with curiosity whenever the word is mentioned... Raped women have been divorced by their husbands — who couldn’t bear to live with the awful knowledge, the visions, the possibility that it wasn’t really rape."

"Any lawyer who says there's no such thing as rape should be hauled out to a public place by three large perverts and buggered at high noon, with all of his clients watching."

"No man inveigh against the wither'd flower, But chide rough winter that the flower hath kill'd. Not that devour'd, but that which doth devour, Is worthy blame."

"Pure Chastity is rifled of her store, And Lust, the thief, far poorer than before."

"What win I if I gain the thing I seek? A dream, a breath, a froth of fleeting joy. Who buys a minute’s mirth to wail a week? Or sells eternity to get a toy?"

"Let fair humanity abhor the deed That spots and stains love's modest snow-white weed."