Independence I have long considered as the grand blessing of life, the basis of every virtue; and independence I will ever secure by contracting my wants, though I were to live on a barren heath.
Source: A Vindication of the Rights of Women, Dedication, 1792.
-- Mary Shelly Wollstonecraft, (Apr 27 1759-1797), English writer, women's rights activist; She was an early advocate of women's rights; wrote Vindication of the Rights of Women, 1792; mother of Mary Shelly; wife of William Godwin.