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Her rights under such circumstances are to use all her faculties for her own safety and happiness.
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“Her rights under such circumstances are to use all her faculties for her own safety and happiness.”

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

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Source
Solitude of Self
Date
1892
Meaning

Meaning of “Her rights under such circumstances are to use…”

The sentence frames development of one’s capacities as a right tied to safety and happiness, not as a privilege granted only through dependence on another person.

Source context

Where does it come from?

Solitude of Self; Stanton uses an imagined solitary-island example to separate a woman’s individual rights from the incidental roles society may assign her.

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FreedomHappinessIndependenceJoyLoveResponsibilitySelf LoveSelf-WorthRightsSelf-Care
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The true standpoint from which to view this question is individual sovereignty, individual happiness.
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“The true standpoint from which to view this question is individual sovereignty, individual happiness.”

Elizabeth Cady Stanton · Eighty Years and More · 1898
Meaning & context

Stanton makes the individual rather than an institution the starting point for judging intimate social arrangements, linking personal sovereignty with the pursuit of happiness.

Source details

Eighty Years and More (1898), Chapter XIV, “Views on Marriage and Divorce,” Project Gutenberg #11982. Stanton introduces the surrounding passage as “my latest thought on this question” from The Arena of April 1894, then argues that marriage and divorce should be judged from individual sovereignty and individual happiness. The 1898 memoir remains the represented source while the embedded 1894 article origin is preserved.

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The isolation of every human soul and the necessity of self-dependence must give each individual the right, to choose his own surroundings.
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“The isolation of every human soul and the necessity of self-dependence must give each individual the right, to choose his own surroundings.”

Elizabeth Cady Stanton · Solitude of Self · 1892
Meaning & context

Because each person ultimately bears an individual life, Stanton argues that self-dependence requires meaningful authority over the conditions in which that life is lived.

Source details

Solitude of Self, 1892 congressional address; punctuation follows a widely reproduced transcription of Stanton’s public-domain speech.

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The individual was primary; the State, the Church, society, the family, secondary.
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“The individual was primary; the State, the Church, society, the family, secondary.”

Elizabeth Cady Stanton · Eighty Years and More · 1898
Meaning & context

The hierarchy places inherent personhood before social institutions, arguing that family, church, society, and government should serve rather than erase individual conscience and dignity.

Source details

Eighty Years and More (1898), Chapter XIV, “Views on Marriage and Divorce,” Project Gutenberg #11982. This sentence immediately follows Stanton’s individual-sovereignty claim inside her quoted April 1894 Arena article: she contrasts older state/family primacy with the Christian claim of individual conscience and judgment. The passage is historical reform argument, not modern constitutional or family-law doctrine.

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What a man is contributes much more to his happiness than what he has, or how he is regarded by others.
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“What a man is contributes much more to his happiness than what he has, or how he is regarded by others.”

Arthur Schopenhauer · The Wisdom of Life · 1851
Meaning & context

Schopenhauer places personal character and inner constitution above possessions and reputation, making well-being depend more on what a person is than on external valuation.

Source details

The Wisdom of Life; T. Bailey Saunders’s public-domain translation distinguishes what a person is from possessions and from the opinions of other people.

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It is because of her birthright to self-sovereignty; because, as an individual, she must rely on herself.
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“It is because of her birthright to self-sovereignty; because, as an individual, she must rely on herself.”

Elizabeth Cady Stanton · Solitude of Self · 1892
Meaning & context

Self-sovereignty here is political and moral rather than merely motivational: Stanton argues that individual responsibility is a reason for equal rights, education, and freedom of action.

Source details

Solitude of Self; this clause occurs inside Stanton’s argument for education, civic voice, economic opportunity, and emancipation from enforced dependence.

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If a man hold himself dear, let him watch himself carefully; during one at least out of the three watches a wise man should be watchful.
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“If a man hold himself dear, let him watch himself carefully; during one at least out of the three watches a wise man should be watchful.”

The Dhammapada · The Dhammapada · ancient
Meaning & context

Holding oneself dear is expressed as careful stewardship rather than indulgence: valuing the self creates a reason to remain attentive to one’s conduct and direction.

Source details

Dhammapada 157, Chapter XII “Self,” in Max Müller’s translation; the verse explicitly joins self-regard with watchfulness and ethical discipline.

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