---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: ... he couldn't, as a respectable master…"
description: "\"“... he couldn't, as a respectable master in an English public school, have taken us to a brothel. Yet how I wish he had! His introduction to sexual ex..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85d/christopher-isherwood-2302_five-years_he-couldn-t-as-a-respectable-master-in-a_2451147.png"
---

#  ... he couldn't, as a respectable master in an English…

![“... he couldn't, as a respectable master in an English public school, have taken us to a brothel. Yet how I wish he had! His introduction to sexual experience would, I feel sure, have been a masterpiece of tact; it might well have speeded up our development by a good five years.” quote by Christopher Isherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85d/christopher-isherwood-2302_five-years_he-couldn-t-as-a-respectable-master-in-a_2451147.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85d/christopher-isherwood-2302_five-years_he-couldn-t-as-a-respectable-master-in-a_2451147.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85d/christopher-isherwood-2302_five-years_he-couldn-t-as-a-respectable-master-in-a_2451147.png)

> ““... he couldn't, as a respectable master in an English public school, have taken us to a brothel. Yet how I wish he had! His introduction to sexual experience would, I feel sure, have been a masterpiece of tact; it might well have speeded up our development by a good five years.””

[Christopher Isherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-isherwood/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

A respectable teacher could not expose students to sexual life, but such exposure might have accelerated maturity.

**In simple terms:** A teacher's restraint delayed sexual learning.

Key Takeaway

Consider the impact of early sexual education.

Themes

education sexuality development

Mood

reflective thoughtful

Type

analytical critical

When to use this quote

- school settings
- parental guidance
- sexual education programs

Key Concepts

Maturity social norms tact

Questions to Reflect On

- Should educators balance propriety with developmental needs?
- How does delayed exposure affect growth?

A Different Perspective

Moral constraints can limit beneficial experiences.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Brothel Wish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brothel-wish-571373/) [Couldn Respectable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/couldn-respectable-571375/) [Five years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/five-years/) [Respectable Master](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/respectable-master-571374/) [Sexual Experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sexual-experience-526800/) [Sexuality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sexuality/) [Taken Brothel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taken-brothel-571376/)

## Related quotes

> [“The anthropologist Margaret Mead concluded in 1948, after observing seven different ethnic groups in the Pacific Islands, that different cultures made different forms of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/the-anthropologist-margaret-mead-concluded-in-1948-after-observing/)

[Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/)

> [“This is not right, and we must recondition the brain so that each sexual experience is unique, just as each loving experience is unique.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/this-is-not-right-and-we-must-recondition-the-brain-so-that-each/)

[Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/)

> [The first sexual experience is a significant imprinting of attention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/the-first-sexual-experience-is-a-significant-imprinting-of-attention/)

[Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/)

> [All men look at Dr. Ruth and wonder how she has gained all that sexual experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-rudner/all-men-look-at-dr-ruth-and-wonder-how-she-has-gained-all-that-sexual/)

[Rita Rudner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-rudner/)

> [My kind of nightmare quote is from Deborah Tolman, who does research on girls and desire and is, I think, brilliant. She told me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-orenstein/my-kind-of-nightmare-quote-is-from-deborah-tolman-who-does-research/)

[Peggy Orenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-orenstein/)

> [Sometimes its hard to move on when you can't forget that one person you ever loved and had your first sexual experience with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sometimes-its-hard-to-move-on-when-you-can-t-forget-that-one-person/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Where is the direction of influence going to run? It's going to run - and the research confirms this again and again - it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-coulson/where-is-the-direction-of-influence-going-to-run-it-s-going-to-run/)

[William Coulson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-coulson/)

> [As in the sexual experience, there are never more than two persons present in the act of reading-the writer, who is the impregnator, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/as-in-the-sexual-experience-there-are-never-more-than-two-persons/)

[E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/)

> [Everyone should study at least enough philosophy and belles-lettres to make his sexual experience more delectable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/everyone-should-study-at-least-enough-philosophy-and-belles-lettres/)

[Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/)

> [Some guy told me that girls like a guy with some sexual experience. So I sucked a bunch of dicks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikhil-saluja/some-guy-told-me-that-girls-like-a-guy-with-some-sexual-experience-so/)

[Nikhil Saluja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikhil-saluja/)

> [People will begin to explore all the sidestreets of sexual experience, but they will do it intellectually. . . . Sex won't take place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-ballard/people-will-begin-to-explore-all-the-sidestreets-of-sexual-experience/)

[J. G. Ballard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-ballard/)

> [“Have you ever had an experience with God as wild as your most incredible sexual experience?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-elrod/have-you-ever-had-an-experience-with-god-as-wild-as-your-most/)

[Randy Elrod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-elrod/)

> [I had a very sexual experience onstage once. But I won't go there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meredith-brooks/i-had-a-very-sexual-experience-onstage-once-but-i-won-t-go-there/)

[Meredith Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meredith-brooks/)

> [ Saying "yes" \[to sexual activity\] is a pretty low baseline for sexual experience and I wanted to write about what was happening to girls… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-orenstein/saying-yes-to-sexual-activity-is-a-pretty-low-baseline-for-sexual/)

[Peggy Orenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-orenstein/)

> [The same piece of music alters at each hearing. But oh, the need to repeat and repeat and repeat unchanged the sexual experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ned-rorem/the-same-piece-of-music-alters-at-each-hearing-but-oh-the-need-to/)

[Ned Rorem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ned-rorem/)

## More by Christopher Isherwood

> [“From his angle, the curtain seems to form itself into a shrouded, wavering figure, indescribably terrifying in its very indistinctness. Something waiting, hovering on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-isherwood/from-his-angle-the-curtain-seems-to-form-itself-into-a-shrouded/)

[Christopher Isherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-isherwood/)

> [“If you really have talent, you know, you'll go on writing - whatever people say to you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-isherwood/if-you-really-have-talent-you-know-you-ll-go-on-writing-whatever/)

[Christopher Isherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-isherwood/)

> [But seriously, I believe I'm a sort of Ideal Woman, if you know what I mean. I'm the sort of woman who can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-isherwood/but-seriously-i-believe-i-m-a-sort-of-ideal-woman-if-you-know-what-i/)

[Christopher Isherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-isherwood/)

> [If it’s going to be a world with no time for sentiment, it’s not a world that I want to live in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-isherwood/if-it-s-going-to-be-a-world-with-no-time-for-sentiment-it-s-not-a/)

[Christopher Isherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-isherwood/)

> [“By the time it has gotten dressed, it has become he; has become already more or less George — though still not the whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-isherwood/by-the-time-it-has-gotten-dressed-it-has-become-he-has-become-already/)

[Christopher Isherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-isherwood/)

> [“George feels that, even if all this double talk hasn't brought them any closer to understanding each other, the not-understanding, the readiness to remain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-isherwood/george-feels-that-even-if-all-this-double-talk-hasn-t-brought-them/)

[Christopher Isherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-isherwood/)

> [“Now, for example, people with freckles aren’t thought of as a minority by the nonfreckled. They aren’t a minority in the sense we’re talking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-isherwood/now-for-example-people-with-freckles-aren-t-thought-of-as-a-minority/)

[Christopher Isherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-isherwood/)

> [“Even when they are geniuses in spite of it, their masterpieces are invariably warped.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-isherwood/even-when-they-are-geniuses-in-spite-of-it-their-masterpieces-are/)

[Christopher Isherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-isherwood/)

> [“Here, in their midst, George feels a sort of vertigo. Oh God, what will become of them all? What chance have they? Ought I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-isherwood/here-in-their-midst-george-feels-a-sort-of-vertigo-oh-god-what-will/)

[Christopher Isherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-isherwood/)

> [“I put my genius into my life, not into my art.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-isherwood/i-put-my-genius-into-my-life-not-into-my-art/)

[Christopher Isherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-isherwood/)

> [We must remember that nothing in this world really belongs to us. At best, we are merely borrowers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-isherwood/we-must-remember-that-nothing-in-this-world-really-belongs-to-us-at/)

[Christopher Isherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-isherwood/)

> [In the eternal lazy morning of the Pacific, days slip away into months, months into years; the seasons are reduced to the faintest nuance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-isherwood/in-the-eternal-lazy-morning-of-the-pacific-days-slip-away-into-months/)

[Christopher Isherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-isherwood/)

> [“Waking up begins with am and now. That which has awoken then lies for a while staring up at the ceiling and down into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-isherwood/waking-up-begins-with-am-and-now-that-which-has-awoken-then-lies-for/)

[Christopher Isherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-isherwood/)

> [“Like a long train which stops at every dingy little station, the winter dragged slowly past.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-isherwood/like-a-long-train-which-stops-at-every-dingy-little-station-the/)

[Christopher Isherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-isherwood/)

> [Every writer has certain subjects that they write about again and again, and . . . most people's books are just variations on certain themes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-isherwood/every-writer-has-certain-subjects-that-they-write-about-again-and/)

[Christopher Isherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-isherwood/)

[Explore all 169 Christopher Isherwood quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-isherwood/)

## More Five years quotes

> [“Women will be at least 50 percent of the communications community workforce … from executive suite to interns. Why? The “integrated” agency will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoram-wind/women-will-be-at-least-50-percent-of-the-communications-community/)

[Yoram Wind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoram-wind/)

> [“A clear look back on the Cold War's battlegrounds, along with a sense of relief that the world survived forty-five years of confrontation, evokes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-clear-look-back-on-the-cold-war-s-battlegrounds-along-with-a-sense/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“Something had been confirmed: I was worth giving a shit about; I was getting to be a successful sick person. Sick is when they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marya-hornbacher/something-had-been-confirmed-i-was-worth-giving-a-shit-about-i-was/)

[Marya Hornbacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marya-hornbacher/)

> [“His Army Ranger unit had always been ready for an ambush. Five years in special ops had made him suspicious of most. On that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-perini/his-army-ranger-unit-had-always-been-ready-for-an-ambush-five-years/)

[Robin Perini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-perini/)

> [“I looked at him, tipping down the coarse wine like a man who expects to put up with worse. I felt I was looking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-renault/i-looked-at-him-tipping-down-the-coarse-wine-like-a-man-who-expects/)

[Mary Renault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-renault/)

> [I was sober for five years a long time ago and was just bored out of my tree.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-sheen/i-was-sober-for-five-years-a-long-time-ago-and-was-just-bored-out-of/)

[Charlie Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-sheen/)

> [“Whatand why were never questions for me. How was the only question. When I look back now, I realize that I never thought about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadhguru/whatand-why-were-never-questions-for-me-how-was-the-only-question/)

[Sadhguru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadhguru/)

> [We know, Southern men declare that their slaves are better off than hired laborers amongst us. How little they know, whereof they speak! There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/we-know-southern-men-declare-that-their-slaves-are-better-off-than/)

[Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/)

> [“most professionals progress until they reach an “acceptable” level, and then they plateau. Software engineers, for instance, usually stop progressing somewhere around five years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-grenny/most-professionals-progress-until-they-reach-an-acceptable-level-and/)

[Joseph Grenny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-grenny/)

> [In five years of my previous tenure, the treasury was never shut for one day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amarinder-singh/in-five-years-of-my-previous-tenure-the-treasury-was-never-shut-for/)

[Amarinder Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amarinder-singh/)

> [We have been playing every summer on clay since I was five years old, so it is an easy surface for us in Belgium.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-goffin/we-have-been-playing-every-summer-on-clay-since-i-was-five-years-old/)

[David Goffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-goffin/)

> [I'm an immigrant, a legal immigrant to the United States. I only became a citizen five years ago. Every day, for seven months, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-gorka/i-m-an-immigrant-a-legal-immigrant-to-the-united-states-i-only-became/)

[Sebastian Gorka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-gorka/)

> [“Why did I write it down? In order to remember, of course, but exactly what was it I wanted to remember? How much of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/why-did-i-write-it-down-in-order-to-remember-of-course-but-exactly/)

[Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/)

> [Wrestling introduced me to the idea that my body has a purpose besides trying to look five years younger for the first time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betty-gilpin/wrestling-introduced-me-to-the-idea-that-my-body-has-a-purpose/)

[Betty Gilpin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betty-gilpin/)

> [“I have entered the New Yorker's Cartoon Caption Contest almost weekly virtually since it began and have never even been a finalist. I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-mankoff/i-have-entered-the-new-yorker-s-cartoon-caption-contest-almost-weekly/)

[Bob Mankoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-mankoff/)

[Browse all 2,724 Five years quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/five-years/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“... he couldn't, as a respectable master in an English public school, have taken us to a brothel. Yet how I wish he had! His introduction to sexual experience would, I feel sure, have been a masterpiece of tact; it might well have speeded up our development by a good five years.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Christopher Isherwood"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-isherwood/he-couldn-t-as-a-respectable-master-in-an-english-public-school-have/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Five years"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-isherwood/he-couldn-t-as-a-respectable-master-in-an-english-public-school-have/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85d/christopher-isherwood-2302_five-years_he-couldn-t-as-a-respectable-master-in-a_2451147.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85d/christopher-isherwood-2302_five-years_he-couldn-t-as-a-respectable-master-in-a_2451147.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85d/christopher-isherwood-2302_five-years_he-couldn-t-as-a-respectable-master-in-a_2451147.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“... he couldn't, as a respectable master in an English public school, have taken us to a brothel. Yet how I…” — Christopher Isherwood",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Christopher Isherwood",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-isherwood/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“... he couldn't, as a respectable...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-isherwood/he-couldn-t-as-a-respectable-master-in-an-english-public-school-have/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-isherwood/he-couldn-t-as-a-respectable-master-in-an-english-public-school-have/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
