Mary Shelley (August 30th, 1797 – February 1st, 1851) was an English novelist, biographer and travel writer, best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus. Until recently the author was only really known for Frankenstein and for the work she did attempting to publish her husband’s works, but more recently scholars have shown interest in other novels such as historical novels Valperga and Perkin Warbeck, and apocalyptic novel The Last Man.
Today she is seen as one of the greatest English woman writers to have ever lived, and Frankenstein is an icon of literature in what is possibly the greatest piece of Gothic fiction ever written. To honour the wonderful author today, we have 10 inspirational quotes from Mary Shelley
“Beware; for I am fearless, and therefore powerful.”
“The beginning is always today.”
“The companions of our childhood always possess a certain power over our minds which hardly any later friend can obtain.”
“Nothing contributes so much to tranquilise the mind as a steady purpose”
“When falsehood can look so like the truth, who can assure themselves of certain happiness?”
“Learn from my miseries, and do not seek to increase your own.”
“How mutable are our feelings, and how strange is that clinging love we have of life even in the excess of misery!”
“My dreams were all my own; I accounted for them to nobody; they were my refuge when annoyed – my dearest pleasure when free.”
“The fallen angel becomes a malignant devil.”
“I could not understand why men who knew all about good and evil could hate and kill each other.”
It’s astonishing that despite more than 200 years passing, many of Mary Shelley’s quotes are as relevant today as they have always been.