Wise in their generation

wise in their generation

Luke 16:8: "And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light."

Mary Wollstonecraft uses this phrase twice in the Vindication: see Dedication 7 and Chapter 12.

Percy Shelley may have had this same passage in mind in the dedication of The Revolt of Islam to Mary Shelley.

John 12:36: "While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light." 1 Thess 5:5: "Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness."