No one should approach the temple of science with the soul of a money changer.
Thomas BrowneRead
I could be content that we might procreate like trees, without conjunction, or that we were any way to perpetuate the world without this trivial and vulgar way of coition; it is the foolishest act a wise man commits in all his life.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses disdain for the act of sexual intercourse, suggesting that there are more profound and meaningful ways to create life.
Thomas Browne reflects on the nature of procreation, contemplating whether it would be preferable to reproduce without the act of sexual intercourse, which he deems trivial and foolish. He suggests that a wise individual might see the act of coition as the least dignified or significant act in the journey of life, hinting at a desire for a more majestic and philosophical approach to existence and creation.
Themes
ProcreationCoitionWisdomLifeExistence
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a philosophical discussion about the nature of relationships and reproduction.
More from Thomas Browne
All quotes →Content may dwell in all stations. To be low but above contempt may be high enough to be happy.
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Thus there are two books from whence I collect my Divinity; besides that written one of God, another of his servant Nature, that universal and public Manuscript, that lies expans'd unto the eyes of all; those that never saw him in the one, have discovered him in the other.
Thomas BrowneRead
To be content with death may be better than to desire it.
Thomas BrowneRead
Life itself is but the shadow of death, and souls departed but the shadows of the living.
Thomas BrowneRead
The long habit of living indisposeth us for dying.
Thomas BrowneRead
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