f and
promises much more in the future.

As to the old maid who lives alone with her egoism, her whims and
fancies generally exceed those of the old bachelor. She has not the
faculty of creating anything original by her own intellect, so that,
having lost love, all her mental power shrinks up. Her cat, her little
dog, and the daily care of her person and small household occupy her
whole mind. It is not surprising that such persons generally create a
pitiable and ridiculous impression.

Between these two extremes there exists a category of unmarried women
whose sexual love finds compensation in the love they bear for a
parent or a friend (male or female), which although not sexual is none
the less ardent. Such occupation for their sentiments improves their
state of mind and partially fills the void; however, it is not
sufficient as a rule and only constitutes a last resource. This kind
of devotion, by its exclusiveness, often produces bad results, for its
horizon is too limited. If the object of love, which is generally too
pampered, dies or abandons her, she loses her head; grief, bitterness
and pessimism never leave her, unless she finds consolation in
religious exaltation, which is often observed in other women deprived
of love. This last peculiarity is met with, moreover, in all classes
of women, even among the married.

=Passiveness of Woman. Sexual Appetite.=--Ideal love should never be
dual egoism. What happens when two persons live exclusively for each
other, if one of them dies? The survivor sinks into inconsolable
despair, all that his heart was attached to is dead, because his love
did not extend to other human beings, nor to social works. Widows then
become as pitiable as old maids, although in another way, when they
have lost the object of their exclusive love. This is why we recommend
social work, not only for celibates, but also for loving couples.

I again emphasize the fact that in normal women, especially young
girls, the sexual appetite is subordinate to love. In the young girl
love is a mixture of exalted admiration for masculine courage and
grandeur, and an ardent desire for affection and maternity. She wishes
to be outwardly dominated by a man, but to dominate him by her heart.
This sentimentalism of the young girl, joined to the passive role of
her sex, produces in her a state of exaltation which often borders on
ecstasy and then overcomes all the resistance of will and reason. The
woman surre