--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Alas, human vices, however horrible one…" description: "\"Alas, human vices, however horrible one might imagine them to be, contain the proof (were it only in their infinite expansion) of man's longing for the..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/190/charles-baudelaire-473_alas_alas-human-vices-however-horrible-one-mi_1709762.jpg" --- # Alas, human vices, however horrible one might imagine them… ![“Alas, human vices, however horrible one might imagine them to be, contain the proof (were it only in their infinite expansion) of man's longing for the infinite; but it is a longing that often takes the wrong route. It is my belief that the reason behind all culpable excesses lies in this…” quote by Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/190/charles-baudelaire-473_alas_alas-human-vices-however-horrible-one-mi_1709762.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/190/charles-baudelaire-473_alas_alas-human-vices-however-horrible-one-mi_1709762.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/190/charles-baudelaire-473_alas_alas-human-vices-however-horrible-one-mi_1709762.jpg) > “Alas, human vices, however horrible one might imagine them to be, contain the proof (were it only in their infinite expansion) of man's longing for the infinite; but it is a longing that often takes the wrong route. It is my belief that the reason behind all culpable excesses lies in this depravation of the sense of the infinite.” [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human vices reveal a yearning for the infinite, yet this longing often misdirects, leading to excess and moral decay. **In simple terms:** Vices expose a desire for something greater, but misdirected. Key Takeaway Recognize the deeper longing behind excess and seek healthier paths. Themes human nature excess spiritual longing Mood melancholic introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - art criticism - self‑analysis - ethical debates - spiritual seeking Key Concepts infinity morality desire Questions to Reflect On - How does recognizing the infinite shape moral choices? - Can desire for the infinite be channeled positively? A Different Perspective Not all excess stems from longing for the infinite. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Belief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belief/) [Excess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/excess/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Longing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longing/) [Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Routes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/routes/) [Vices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vices/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) ## Related quotes > [“Moderation and limitation represent the highest with regard to human strivings. If also an infinite longing never abandons the person because he is rooted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helmuth-plessner/moderation-and-limitation-represent-the-highest-with-regard-to-human/) Helmuth Plessner > [Walking I am unbound, and find that precious unity of life and imagination, that silent outgoing self, which is so easy to loose, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-kazin/walking-i-am-unbound-and-find-that-precious-unity-of-life-and/) [Alfred Kazin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-kazin/) > [Satire is a kind of poetry in which human vices are reprehended.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/satire-is-a-kind-of-poetry-in-which-human-vices-are-reprehended/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [The ignorance of French society gives one a rough sense of the infinite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-renan/the-ignorance-of-french-society-gives-one-a-rough-sense-of-the/) [Ernest Renan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-renan/) > [No religion is a true religion that does not make men tingle to their finger tips with a sense of infinite hazard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ernest-hocking/no-religion-is-a-true-religion-that-does-not-make-men-tingle-to-their/) [William Ernest Hocking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ernest-hocking/) > [“But doesn't that make sense? 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Our minds ring, involuntarily, with the alluring names of mountains, aiguilles,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-rebuffat/the-ascent-of-any-route-begins-in-dreams-at-least-the-autumn-before/) [Gaston Rebuffat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-rebuffat/) > [As a general rule, so long as you have any choice at all, you should never route through or peer with the UK under…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-snowden/as-a-general-rule-so-long-as-you-have-any-choice-at-all-you-should/) [Edward Snowden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-snowden/) ## More by Charles Baudelaire > [Who would dare assign to art the sterile function of imitating nature?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/who-would-dare-assign-to-art-the-sterile-function-of-imitating-nature/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [“The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist”—Charles Baudelaire “The second greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/the-greatest-trick-the-devil-ever-pulled-was-convincing-the-world-he/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [“This life is a hospital in which each patient is possessed by the desire to change beds. 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Bitter is the knowledge gained in travelling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/amer-savoir-celui-qu-on-tire-du-voyage-bitter-is-the-knowledge-gained/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [“Car je cherche le vide, el le noir, el le nu!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/car-je-cherche-le-vide-el-le-noir-el-le-nu/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [“I can barely conceive a type of beauty in which there is no melancholy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/i-can-barely-conceive-a-type-of-beauty-in-which-there-is-no-melancholy/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [The vices of man, as full of horror as one might suppose them to be, contain the proof (if in nothing else but their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/the-vices-of-man-as-full-of-horror-as-one-might-suppose-them-to-be/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Multitude, solitude: equal and interchangeable terms for the active and prolific poet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/multitude-solitude-equal-and-interchangeable-terms-for-the-active-and/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Any healthy man can go without food for two days - but not without poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/any-healthy-man-can-go-without-food-for-two-days-but-not-without/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Drink wine, drink poetry, drink virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/drink-wine-drink-poetry-drink-virtue/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Man loves man so much that when he flees the city, it is still to seek the crowd, that is, to rebuild the city…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/man-loves-man-so-much-that-when-he-flees-the-city-it-is-still-to-seek/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [“—But why is she weeping? She, the perfect beauty, Who could put at her feet the conquered human race, What secret malady gnaws at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/but-why-is-she-weeping-she-the-perfect-beauty-who-could-put-at-her/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) [Explore all 454 Charles Baudelaire quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) ## More Alas quotes > [“Muchos de los ángeles de Dios no tienen alas...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-n-harris/muchos-de-los-ngeles-de-dios-no-tienen-alas/) [José N. Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-n-harris/) > [We are all potentially such sick men. The sanest and best of us are of one clay with lunatics and prison-inmates. And whenever we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/we-are-all-potentially-such-sick-men-the-sanest-and-best-of-us-are-of/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [Alas, you don't need monsters for monstrous deeds to be accomplished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/alas-you-don-t-need-monsters-for-monstrous-deeds-to-be-accomplished/) [Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/) > [Time, time - that is our greatest master! Alas, like Ugolino, time devours its own children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hector-berlioz/time-time-that-is-our-greatest-master-alas-like-ugolino-time-devours/) [Hector Berlioz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hector-berlioz/) > [Removing prejudices is, alas! too often removing the boundary of a delightful near prospect in order to let in a shockingly extensive one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-fulke-greville/removing-prejudices-is-alas-too-often-removing-the-boundary-of-a/) [Sir Fulke Greville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-fulke-greville/) > [Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-pharcellus-church/yes-virginia-there-is-a-santa-claus-he-exists-as-certainly-as-love/) [Francis Pharcellus Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-pharcellus-church/) > [Alas, Postumus, the fleeting years slip by, nor will piety give any stay to wrinkles and pressing old age and untamable death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/alas-postumus-the-fleeting-years-slip-by-nor-will-piety-give-any-stay/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Sensible Catholics have for generations been ignoring the views on contraception held by reactionary old men in the Vatican, but alas, since it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-c-grayling/sensible-catholics-have-for-generations-been-ignoring-the-views-on/) [A.C. 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Moonzajer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-f-moonzajer/) > [Ideally a painter (and, generally, an artist) should not become conscious of his insights: without taking the detour through his reflective processes, and incomprehensibly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/ideally-a-painter-and-generally-an-artist-should-not-become-conscious/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [Alas! we makeA ladder of our thoughts, where angels step,But sleep ourselves at the foot: our high resolvesLook down upon our slumbering acts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/letitia-elizabeth-landon/alas-we-makea-ladder-of-our-thoughts-where-angels-step-but-sleep/) [Letitia Elizabeth Landon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/letitia-elizabeth-landon/) Browse all 453 Alas quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Alas, human vices, however horrible one might imagine them to be, contain the proof (were it only in their infinite expansion) of man's longing for the infinite; but it is a longing that often takes the wrong route. 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