The anguish of the neurotic individual is the same as that of the saint. The neurotic, the saint are engaged in the same battle. Their blood flows from similar wounds. But the first one gasps and the other one gives.
Georges BatailleRead
What does physical eroticism signify if not a violation of the very being of its practitioners? – A violation bordering on death, bordering on murder?
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote questions the meaning of physical eroticism as an act that transcends normal boundaries, suggesting it can lead to a profound existential breach.
Georges Bataille's quote explores the depths of physical eroticism, proposing that it signifies a fundamental violation of one's essence. He suggests that engaging in extreme erotic experiences can approach a state that is almost lethal, blurring the lines between pleasure and the darkest aspects of human existence, such as death and murder. This reflection implies that eroticism can be both an intensely pleasurable and a dangerously consuming force that challenges the core of one’s being.
Themes
EroticismViolationExistentialPleasureDeathMurder
In practice
Example use cases
In a philosophical discussion about the nature of desire and its implications in art.
More from Georges Bataille
All quotes →A judgment about life has no meaning except the truth of the one who speaks last, and the mind is at ease only at the moment when everyone is shouting at once and no one can hear a thing.
Georges BatailleRead
I believe that truth has only one face: that of a violent contradiction.
Georges BatailleRead
It is clear that the world is purely parodic, that each thing seen is the parody of another, or is the same thing in a deceptive form.
Georges BatailleRead
I think that knowledge enslaves us, that at the base of all knowledge there is a servility, the acceptation of a way of life wherein each moment has meaning only in relation to another or others that will follow it.
Georges BatailleRead
Eroticism is assenting to life even in death.
Georges BatailleRead
Similar quotes
The assurance of Heaven is never given to the person. And that's why at the core of the Christian faith is the grace of God. If there's one word I would grab from all of that, it's forgiveness - that you can be forgiven. I can be forgiven, and it is of the grace of God. But once you understand that, I think the ramifications are worldwide.
Ravi ZachariasRead
The man who is seriously convinced that he deserves hell is not likely to go there, while the man who believes that he is worthy of heaven will certainly never enter that blessed place.
Aiden Wilson TozerRead
Do not grieve yourself too much for those you hate, nor yet forget them utterly.
SophoclesRead
Spirituality is recognizing the divine light that is within us all. It doesn't belong to any particular religion; it belongs to everyone
Muhammad AliRead
Night can swallow you up, yet none of it touches you. Around any corner, there's a promise of something daring and ideal and things are just getting going. There's something obscenely joyful behind every door, either that or somebody crying with their head in in their hands. A lazy rhythm looms in the dreamy air and the atmosphere pulsates with bygone duels, past-life romance, comrades requesting comrades to aid them in some way. You can't see it, but you know it's there
Bob DylanRead
The first requisite of civilization is that of justice.
Sigmund FreudRead