"If the world was born from some divine whim, then woman is the creature with which the Almighty proves how unpredictable is His inaccessible nature." This witticism, although belonging to age-old male prejudices, demonstrates to all, men and women alike, how necessary it was for this book to be written.

The more I study men, the less I tolerate them. If I could say the same about women, then everything would be perfect. Arthur Schopenhauer

Nice sex? This sex, with its incomplete stature, narrow shoulders, wide hips, and short legs, could only be called nice by a male mind clouded by lust: for in this passion, male lust, lies all its beauty.

The weaker sex Women are the sexus sequior, the inferior sex in every respect, whose weakness must be protected, while the display of excessive respect towards women is ridiculous and lowers us in their eyes.

A creature without special interests Women have no sense or sensitivity towards music, poetry, or the visual arts, and when they pretend to have such, they merely mock those around them in their attempt to be pleasant.

This deprives them of the ability to genuinely and objectively care about something, and the reason is, I suppose, as follows: A man seeks to appropriate something directly, either by understanding it or by force. However, a woman everywhere and always has indirect familiarity, and specifically through a man; her direct influence is limited to the man, and only to him.

Therefore, a woman's nature is to view everything as a way to win a man, and her interest in anything else is always pretentious, a mere diversion on the way to her goal, consisting of coquetry and pretense.

That is why Rousseau writes: "Women generally do not love any art, do not engage in anything, and have no genius" (letter to d'Alembert, footnote 20). Anyone with eyes and sees the deception can ascertain this. All one has to do is observe the way they behave at a concert, at the opera, or in the theater, the childlike simplicity, for example, with which they whisper to each other while the most beautiful pieces of the greatest masterpieces are being played.