AMOUNG WOMEN MAY BE FOUND SUCH CHARACTER, SUCH SPIRIT OF SERVICE, SUCH AFFECTION, COMPASSION, CONTENTMENT, AND REVERENCE, AS I COULD NOT FIND ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD!

Disciple: But, sir, how would you get now in thin country learned and virtuous women like Gârgi, Khanâ or Lilâvati?

Swamiji: Do you think women of the type don't exist now in the country? Still on this sacred soil of India, this land of Sitâ and Sâvitri, among women may be found such character, such spirit of service, such affection, compassion, contentment, and reverence, as I could not find anywhere else in the world! In the West, the women did not very often seem to me to be women at all, they appeared to be quite the replicas of men! Driving vehicles, drudging in offices, attending schools, doing professional duties! In India alone the sight of feminine modesty and reserve soothes the eye! With such materials of great promise, you could not, alas, work out their uplift! You did not try to infuse the light of knowledge into them. If they get the right sort of education, they may well turn out to be the ideal women in the world.
- Swami Vivekananda
The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 6/Conversations and Dialogues/VIII