It is difficulties that show what men are.
—Epictetus (55–135) Ancient Greek Philosopher
Men aren’t the way they are because they want to drive women crazy; they’ve been trained to be that way for thousands of years. And that training makes it very difficult for men to be intimate.
—Barbara De Angelis (b.1951) American Self-Help Author
The man, at the head of the house, can mar the pleasure of the household, but he cannot make it.—That must rest with the woman, and it is her greatest privilege.
—Arthur Helps (1813–75) British Essayist, Historian
Most men pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it.
—Soren Kierkegaard (1813–55) Danish Philosopher, Theologian
The difference between a moral man and a man of honor is that the latter regrets a discreditable act, even when it has worked and he has not been caught.
—H. L. Mencken (1880–1956) American Journalist, Literary Critic
You can tell the size of a man by the size of the thing that makes him mad.
—Adlai Stevenson (1900–65) American Diplomat, Politician, Orator
For the woman, the man is a means: the end is always the child.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
Women love us for our defects. If we have enough of them, they will forgive us everything, even our gigantic intellects.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
Please know I am quite aware of the hazards. I want to do it because I want to do it. Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others.
—Amelia Earhart (1897–1937) American Aviator
Men want a woman whom they can turn on and off like a light switch.
—Ian L. Fleming (1908–64) English Novelist, Journalist, Naval Intelligence Officer
Men are the dreams of a shadow.
—Pindar (c.518–c.438 BCE) Greek Lyric Poet
A man that is ashamed of passions that are natural and reasonable is generally proud of those that are shameful and silly.
—Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689–1762) English Aristocrat, Poet, Novelist, Writer
A wise man, recognizing that the world is but an illusion, does not act as if it is real, so he escapes the suffering.
—Buddhist Teaching
I love the idea of there being two sexes, don’t you?
—James Thurber
When men and woman die, as poets sung, his heart’s the last part moves, her last, the tongue.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
I should like to know what is the proper function of women, if it is not to make reasons for husbands to stay at home, and still stronger reasons for bachelors to go out.
—George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans) (1819–80) English Novelist
The more I see of men, the more I like dogs.
—Anne Louise Germaine de Stael (1766–1817) French Woman of Letters
You have to be very fond of men. Very, very fond. You have to be very fond of them to love them. Otherwise they’re simply unbearable.
—Marguerite Duras (1914–96) French Novelist, Playwright
If the wife sins, the husband is not innocent.
—Italian Proverb
Don’t accept rides from strange men – and remember that all men are as strange as hell.
—Robin Morgan (b.1941) American Activist, Writer, Poet, Editor
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82) American Poet, Educator, Academic
Most men experience getting older with regret, apprehension. But most women experience it even more painfully: with shame. Aging is a man’s destiny, something that must happen because he is a human being.
—Susan Sontag (1933–2004) American Writer, Philosopher
Marrying a man is like buying something you’ve been admiring for a long time in a shop window. You may love it when you get it home, but it doesn’t always go with everything else in the house.
—Jean Kerr (1922–2003) Irish-American Author, Playwright
Few women care what a man looks like, and a good thing too.
—Mignon McLaughlin (1913–83) American Journalist, Author
There is no kind of harassment that a man may not inflict on a woman with impunity in civilized societies.
—Denis Diderot (1713–84) French Philosopher, Writer
Women serve but to keep a man from better company.
—William Wycherley (c.1640–1716) English Dramatist
We must love men, ere to us they will seem worthy of our love.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Poor little men, poor little cocks! As soon as they’re old enough, they swell their plumage to be conquerors. If they only knew that it’s enough to be just a little bit wounded and sad in order to obtain everything without fighting for it.
—Jean Anouilh (1910–87) French Dramatist
Some men are like nails, very easily drawn; others however are more like rivets never drawn at all.
—John Burroughs (1837–1921) American Naturalist, Writer
Man can only endure a certain degree of unhappiness; what is beyond that either annihilates him or passes by him and leaves him apathetic
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet