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Who really said it

Women have been called queens for a long time, but the kingdom given them isn't worth ruling

Nearly — Alcott’s wording is slightly different Louisa May Alcott 1832–1888 · Novelist
Disputed Free to reuse

Alcott wrote the underlying sentence as Rebecca’s dialogue in An Old-fashioned Girl. The displayed version slightly modernizes and expands that wording; it is not a false attribution to a different author.

Last verified 9 Nov 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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Disputed wording — copy with the correction

“Women have been called queens for a long time, but the kingdom given them isn't worth ruling” Louisa May Alcott — An Old-fashioned Girl (1870; chapter 13, The Sunny Side). Attribution or wording remains qualified; see source notes. · Verbatim: “women have been called queens a long time, but the kingdom given them is n't worth ruling”

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In context

Evoking the themes of justice, freedom and power. Theme: "Women have been called queens for a long time, but the kingdom given them isn't worth ruling". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Minimalist

Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "Women have been called queens for a long time, but the kingdom given them isn't worth ruling". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Provenance

The source

Work
An Old-fashioned Girl
Location
1870; chapter 13, The Sunny Side
Voice
Rebecca, a fictional character

“No, we have had enough of that; women have been called queens a long time, but the kingdom given them is n’t worth ruling,” answered Rebecca.

The source prints the contraction as is n’t/is n't. The displayed standalone form adds for before a long time; its attribution is right but it is not an exact transcription of this edition.

Read the documented source

How we verified this

Public domain

The documented text comes from a work published before 1931 and is public domain in the United States.

Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.

Fact-check

A small wording change

The thought and literary attribution are genuine, but the popular sentence adds a word to the fetched edition.

The popular wording Minor wording drift

The primary text ↗ has a long time without the preceding for, and retains the spelling is n’t. Wikiquote ↗ presents a modernized standalone sentence.

Credit Alcott and Rebecca’s dialogue; use the documented wording ↗ when claiming a verbatim quotation.

Context

Why it mattered

Rebecca is discussing a sculpture of a woman and rejects the suggestion that it needs a sceptre. Her response challenges ceremonial praise of women when the actual sphere available to them remains restricted.

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Justice Freedom Power

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

An Old-fashioned Girl primary textwww.gutenberg.org

The novel prints Rebecca’s reply without for before a long time.
Wikiquote source entryen.wikiquote.org

Wikiquote gives the modernized sentence and identifies the novel as 1870, chapter 13.

The author

About Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott

1832–1888 · Novelist

Louisa May Alcott was a novelist whose fiction includes Little Women and An Old-fashioned Girl. This line belongs to a character’s discussion of women’s independence.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

The primary source (Chicago)

Louisa May Alcott. An Old-fashioned Girl. 1870; chapter 13, The Sunny Side.

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘Women have been called queens for a long time, but the kingdom given them isn't worth ruling’?” Last verified 9 Nov 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/women-have-been-called-queens-for-a-long-time-but-the/

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