Maria Mitchell: Life, Letters and Journals (illustrated) by Maria Mitchell, 1896, p. 186.
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The great gain would be freedom of thought. Women, more than men, are bound by tradition and authority. What the father, the brother, the doctor, and the minister have said has been received undoubtingly. Until women throw off this reverence for authority they will not develop. When they do this, when they come to truth through their investigations, when doubt leads them to discovery, the truth which they get will be theirs, and their minds will work on and on unfettered.

— Maria Mitchell

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "The great gain would be freedom of thought. Women, more than men, are bound by tradition and authority. What the father, the brother, the doctor, and the minister have said has been received undoubtingly. Until women throw off this reverence for authority they will not develop. When they do this, when they come to truth through their investigations, when doubt leads them to discovery, the truth which they get will be theirs, and their minds will work on and on unfettered." in the context of "Maria Mitchell: Life, Letters and Journals (illustrated) by Maria Mitchell, 1896, p. 186." to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Maria Mitchell" (Quotes) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Maria Mitchell

About Maria Mitchell

Maria Mitchell (1 August 1818 – 28 June 1889) was the first American woman to work as a professional astronomer.