HENRY CORNELIUS AGRIPPA original: "HENRICI COR. AGRIP." — The author’s name in its Latinized form.

...mothers love their children more than fathers do, simply because they feel much more of themselves in their children; mothers possess a greater share in them than fathers. For the same reason I mentioned, I also believe it is innate in us to be more affectionately inclined toward our mother than our father, to such an extent that we seem to respect the father, but only to love the mother. For the same reason, nature has bestowed milk of such vigor upon women that it not only nourishes infants but also restores the sick and suffices as a pillar of life original: "uitæ columen" — a foundational support or mainstay of existence. for adults.

Valerius, Book 5, Chapter 4 Valerius Maximus was a 1st-century Roman author who compiled a collection of memorable deeds and sayings. We read of an example of this in Valerius concerning a certain common young woman who sustained her mother in prison in this way when she would otherwise have died of hunger; because of this piety In the Roman sense, pietas (piety) refers to the deep duty and devotion one owes to parents and country. the mother’s life was spared, and perpetual nourishment was given to both, and the prison was consecrated as a Temple of Piety. This story is famously known in art and literature as "Roman Charity." Though Agrippa mentions a mother here, the most common version of the tale involves a daughter, Pero, breastfeeding her father, Cimon, to save him from starvation.

Moreover, it is nearly always evident that a woman is of greater mercy original: "misericordiæ" — a heart for the miserable; compassion. and compassion than a man, which Aristotle, On Animals Referring to Aristotle's Historia Animalium, where he discusses the different temperaments of the sexes. Aristotle himself attributed as a characteristic to the female sex.

Ecclesiasticus 36 original: "Ecclesia. 26." — likely a reference to the Book of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 36:27: "Where there is no wife, the sick man sighs." For this reason, I believe Solomon said: "where there is no woman, the sick man groans," either because she possesses wonderful skill and eagerness in serving and attending to the infirm, or because woman’s milk is the most immediate remedy for the sick and weak—even those close to death—by which they are restored to life.

Hence, as they say, the warmth of their breasts applied to the chest of men worn out by extreme old age excites, increases, and preserves the vital heat In Renaissance medicine, vital heat was the essential internal energy that fueled life and digestion; its loss was thought to cause aging and death. within them. This was not hidden even from David, who 1 Kings 1 original: "3. Reg. 1." — In the Vulgate Bible, the books of Kings were often numbered 1-4. 3 Kings corresponds to 1 Kings in modern Bibles. chose Abishag the Shunammite girl in his old age, being warmed by her embraces. Furthermore, she is also more ready than a man...