Harriet Martineau
English social theorist and writer (1802 to 1876); translator of works by Auguste Comte, who earned enough by writing to be self-supporting; author of How to Observe Morals and Manners (1838).
Harriet Martineau did not write this page. ppll compiled it from their own words, each linked to the source. Is this you? · Report a mistake
What they believe
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An observer of another society should not generalize on the spot, however firmly they grasp particular facts
The traveller must not generalize on the spot, however true may be his apprehension—however firm his grasp, of one or more facts.
gutenberg.orgSaid c. 1838This on korrents
The bold line is korrents’ wording; the quote is theirs. These one: what they wrote before what they said aloud, one per source, newest first.
Beliefs
Korrents What they believe 6 beliefs — each backed by an exact quote.
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An observer of another society should not generalize on the spot, however firmly they grasp particular facts
The traveller must not generalize on the spot, however true may be his apprehension—however firm his grasp, of one or more facts.
How to Observe Morals and Manners (1838) Said c. 1838
In judging a society, every consideration is subordinate to the relative amount of human happiness
The two considerations just mentioned must be subordinated to the grand one,—the only general one,—of the relative amount of human happiness. Every element of social life derives its importance from this great consideration.
How to Observe Morals and Manners (1838) Said c. 1838
Judging one people by another misses the truth; judging a nation by the essentials of human happiness sees it as it is
To test one people by another, is to argue within a very small segment of a circle; and the observer can only pass backwards and forwards at an equal distance from the point of truth. To test the morals and manners of a nation by a reference to the essentials of human happiness, is to strike at once to the centre, and to see things as they are.
How to Observe Morals and Manners (1838) Said c. 1838
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How far women are degraded is as good a test as any of the state of domestic morals in a country
The traveller everywhere finds woman treated as the inferior party in a compact in which both parties have an equal interest. Any agreement thus formed is imperfect, and is liable to disturbance; and the danger is great in proportion to the degradation of the supposed weaker party. The degree of the degradation of woman is as good a test as the moralist can adopt for ascertaining the state of domestic morals in any country.
How to Observe Morals and Manners (1838) Said c. 1838
Even in France, England and the United States women are half-educated, barred from most paid work, and bound by laws they cannot consent to
From a condition of slavery like this, women are found rising to the highest condition in which they are at present seen, in France, England, and the United States,—where they are less than half-educated, precluded from earning a subsistence, except in a very few ill-paid employments, and prohibited from giving or withholding their assent to laws which they are yet bound by penalties to obey.
How to Observe Morals and Manners (1838) Said c. 1838
Many women must support themselves without access to varied work or education, so they are raised to see marriage as their one object
The charge of their own maintenance is thrown upon large numbers of women, without the requisite variety of employments having been opened to them, or the needful education imparted. A natural consequence of this is, that women are educated to consider marriage the one object in life, and therefore to be extremely impatient to secure it.
How to Observe Morals and Manners (1838) Said c. 1838
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