I desire you would Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and… — Abigail Adams · Smartyfair

I desire you would Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors.

Abigail Adams1744–1818 · writer · 1700s-1800s USAAbigail Adams was the wife of America's second president, John Adams, and one of the most influential women of the founding era.4 quotes

Source foundIndividuality1700s

In plain words

Abigail asked her husband to treat women fairly, not just as his ancestors had.

Look up a word

Where these words come from

How sure this is: 95% sureThese words were traced back to where they first appeared. That source is listed below.
What turned up: Letter to John Adams, March 31, 1776 — Adams Family Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society digital archive. Her most famous line.
Work: Letter to John Adams
Occasion: 1776
Sources checked: masshist.orgChecked using claude-sonnet-5, 21 August 2026Primary manuscript text fetched, confirms exact wording including 'I desire you would'

Nothing made from these words yet — Storyfaire is where they get made.

More from Abigail Adams

Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardour and attended to with diligence.

Abigail Adams These are times in which a genius would wish to live.

Abigail Adams Great necessities call out great virtues.

More on individuality

To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.

Oscar Wilde Not all who wander are lost.

J.R.R. Tolkien 'Know thyself' was written over the portal of the antique world. Over the portal of the new world, 'Be thyself' shall be written.

Oscar Wilde We will walk on our own feet; we will work with our own hands; we will speak our own minds.

Ralph Waldo Emerson The imitator dooms himself to hopeless mediocrity.

Ralph Waldo Emerson Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.