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Mitchell, Maria, 1818-1889

"Maria Mitchell: Life, Letters, and Journals"


Labor is her inheritance.
"I was born, for instance, incapable of appreciating music. I mourn it.
Should I go to a music-school, therefore? No, avoid the music-school; it
is a very expensive branch of study. When the public school has taught
reading, writing, and arithmetic, the boy or girl has his or her tools;
let them use these tools, and get a few hours for study every day.
"... Do not give educational aid to sickly young people. The old idea
that the feeble young man must be fitted for the ministry, because the
more sickly the more saintly, has gone out. Health of body is not only
an accompaniment of health of mind, but is the cause; the converse may
be true,--that health of mind causes health of body; but we all know
that intellectual cheer and vivacity act upon the mind. If the gymnastic
exercise helps the mind, the concert or the theatre improves the health
of the body.
"Let the unfortunate young woman whose health is delicate take to the
culture of the woods and fields, or raise strawberries, and avoid
teaching.
"Better give a young girl who is poor a common-school education, a
little lift, and tell her to work out her own career. If she have a
distaste to the homely routine of life, leave her the opportunity to try
any other career, but let her understand that she stands or falls by
herself.
"... Not every girl should go to college. The over-burdened mother of a
large family has a right to be aided by her daughter's hands.


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