"The word 'idiot' comes from a Greek root meaning private person. Idiocy is the female defect: intent on their private lives, women follow their fate through a darkness deep as that cast by malformed cells in the brain. It is no worse than the male defect, which is lunacy: men are so obsessed by public affairs that they see the world as by moonlight, which shows the outlines of every object but not the details indicative of their nature."

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Source: Rebecca West (2010). “Black Lamb and Grey Falcon: A Journey Through Yugoslavia”, p.7, Open Road Media

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Rebecca West

Novelist, Journalist

Rebecca West was a British author and journalist known for her incisive critiques of society and her advocacy for women's rights, particularly in works like 'The Meaning of Treason.'

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