“It is to become a nobler creature, and to help all others to a higher human status during this brief span of earthly life.”
- Date
- 1902
- Local voice
- Authorial / signed preface voice · Elizabeth Blackwell (address voice)
Meaning of “It is to become a nobler creature, and…”
Blackwell describes professional and human development as inseparable from helping raise the condition and opportunities of other people.
Where does it come from?
Essays in Medical Sociology, Volume II, Essay I, ‘The Influence of Women in the Profession of Medicine,’ address delivered at the London School of Medicine for Women in October 1889, around printed page 8, Project Gutenberg #69998. Blackwell defines the great object of human life as becoming nobler and helping others while developing her historical argument about women's responsibilities and contribution to medicine. It remains period professional/social-reform rhetoric, not current clinical or professional guidance.
Why the local voice matters
Essays in Medical Sociology, in Blackwell’s historical address on women and medicine. The sentence is social/professional reform argument, not current clinical guidance.