Flatland Quotes

“For the consequence is that, as things now are, we Males have to lead a kind of bi-lingual, and I may
almost say bi-mental, existence. With Women, we speak of ``love,'' ``duty,'' ``right,'' ``wrong,'' ``pity,''
``hope,'' and other irrational and emotional conceptions, which have no existence, and the fiction of
which has no object except to control feminine exuberances; but among ourselves, and in our books, we
have an entirely different vocabulary and I may almost say, idiom. ``Love'' then becomes ``the
anticipation of benefits''; ``duty'' becomes ``necessity'' or ``fitness''; and other words are correspondingly
transmuted. Moreover, among Women, we use language implying the utmost deference for their Sex;
and they fully believe that the Chief Circle Himself is not more devoutly adored by us than they are; but
behind their backs they are both regarded and spoken of - by all except the very young - as being little
better than mindless organisms.”
― Edwin Abbott Abbott, Flatland: A romance of many dimensions