--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: [Man] has imagined a heaven, and has left…" description: "\"“[Man] has imagined a heaven, and has left entirely out of it the supremest of all his delights, the one ecstasy that stands first and foremost in the ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/939/christopher-ryan-4309_joy_man-has-imagined-a-heaven-and-has-left-e_187069.jpg" --- # \[Man\] has imagined a heaven, and has left entirely out of… ![“[Man] has imagined a heaven, and has left entirely out of it the supremest of all his delights, the one ecstasy that stands first and foremost in the heart of every individual of his race…sexual intercourse! It is as if a lost and perishing person in a roasting desert should be told by a rescuer…” quote by Christopher Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/939/christopher-ryan-4309_joy_man-has-imagined-a-heaven-and-has-left-e_187069.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/939/christopher-ryan-4309_joy_man-has-imagined-a-heaven-and-has-left-e_187069.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/939/christopher-ryan-4309_joy_man-has-imagined-a-heaven-and-has-left-e_187069.jpg) > ““\[Man\] has imagined a heaven, and has left entirely out of it the supremest of all his delights, the one ecstasy that stands first and foremost in the heart of every individual of his race…sexual intercourse! It is as if a lost and perishing person in a roasting desert should be told by a rescuer he might choose and have all longed-for things but one, and he should elect to leave out water! MARK TWAIN, Letters from the Earth”” [Christopher Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-ryan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage critiques humanity's omission of sexual fulfillment from idealized visions of heaven, highlighting its fundamental importance. **In simple terms:** Sexual joy is often excluded from ideal visions. Key Takeaway Recognize sexual fulfillment as essential. Themes desire human nature spirituality culture Mood reflective provocative Type philosophical social When to use this quote - relationship counseling - spiritual discourse - personal introspection Key Concepts psychology of desire cultural critique Questions to Reflect On - Why is sexual ecstasy often omitted from ideal worlds? - How does this omission affect personal fulfillment? A Different Perspective Discussing sexuality can be taboo or uncomfortable. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Desert Told](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desert-told-1986434/) [Heaven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heaven/) [Heaven Left](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heaven-left-1986435/) [Imagined Heaven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagined-heaven-881833/) [Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joy/) [Man Imagined](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-imagined-1986433/) [Sexual intercourse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sexual-intercourse/) ## Related quotes > [Man has imagined a heaven, and has left entirely out of it the supremest of all his delights...sexual intercourse!...His heaven is like himself: strange,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/man-has-imagined-a-heaven-and-has-left-entirely-out-of-it-the-2/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [For instance, take this sample: he has imagined a heaven, and has left entirely out of it the supremest of all his delights, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/for-instance-take-this-sample-he-has-imagined-a-heaven-and-has-left/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“Perhaps they could get married in heaven, if he left it too late. That would certainly be cheaper.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-mccall-smith/perhaps-they-could-get-married-in-heaven-if-he-left-it-too-late-that/) [Alexander McCall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-mccall-smith/) > [“Somehow, the vault of heaven lay beneath the earth. It was as if they lay against each other, though they were separated by many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/somehow-the-vault-of-heaven-lay-beneath-the-earth-it-was-as-if-they/) [Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/) > [As you come closer… my life look like heaven … when you left me here alone … I feel u still here … in my broken heart ...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/promita/as-you-come-closer-my-life-look-like-heaven-when-you-left-me-here/) [Promita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/promita/) > [How was heaven when you left it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paperboi/how-was-heaven-when-you-left-it/) [Paperboi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paperboi/) > [Hell is gone and heaven's here,there's nothing left for you to fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robbie-williams/hell-is-gone-and-heaven-s-here-there-s-nothing-left-for-you-to-fear/) [Robbie Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robbie-williams/) > [“I have always imagined that Heaven would be some kind of library.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-burges/i-have-always-imagined-that-heaven-would-be-some-kind-of-library/) [Jorge Luis Burges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-burges/) > [I read a poem once, about a girl who had a crush on a guy that died. She imagined him up in Heaven with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peyton-sawyer/i-read-a-poem-once-about-a-girl-who-had-a-crush-on-a-guy-that-died/) [Peyton Sawyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peyton-sawyer/) > [A life so young released to heaven, left on Earth we wonder why but some are sent among us briefly 'Some have Spirits meant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-life-so-young-released-to-heaven-left-on-earth-we-wonder-why-but/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“One man's imagined community is another man's political prison.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arjun-appadurai/one-man-s-imagined-community-is-another-man-s-political-prison/) [Arjun Appadurai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arjun-appadurai/) > [“I found my father asleep in his dining-room armchair, with a blanket over his legs and his favorite book open in his hands--a copy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-ruiz-zafon/i-found-my-father-asleep-in-his-dining-room-armchair-with-a-blanket/) [Carlos Ruiz Zafón](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-ruiz-zafon/) > [“The worst mutilation of man that can be imagined presented as the "good man".”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-worst-mutilation-of-man-that-can-be-imagined-presented-as-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Who knows whether, if I had given up smoking, I should really have become the strong perfect man I imagined? Perhaps it was this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-svevo/who-knows-whether-if-i-had-given-up-smoking-i-should-really-have/) [Italo Svevo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-svevo/) > [Once a man has imagined the immensity of space, has contemplated evolution and the magnitude of its duration, and has walked through the mighty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-p-jones-2/once-a-man-has-imagined-the-immensity-of-space-has-contemplated/) [Franklin P Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-p-jones-2/) ## More by Christopher Ryan > [“Marriage," "mating," and "love" are socially constructed phenomena that have little or no transferable meaning outside any given culture. The examples we've noted of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-ryan/marriage-mating-and-love-are-socially-constructed-phenomena-that-have/) [Christopher Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-ryan/) > [“What constitutes misuse of the universe? This question can be answered in one word: greed…. Greed constitutes the most grievous wrong. LAURENTI MAGESA, African…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-ryan/what-constitutes-misuse-of-the-universe-this-question-can-be-answered/) [Christopher Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-ryan/) > [“human population growth mushroomed as quality of life plummeted. The shift to agriculture, wrote author Jared Diamond, is a “catastrophe from which we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-ryan/human-population-growth-mushroomed-as-quality-of-life-plummeted-the/) [Christopher Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-ryan/) > [“As attentive readers may have noted, the standard narrative of heterosexual interaction boils down to prostitution: a woman exchanges her sexual services for access…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-ryan/as-attentive-readers-may-have-noted-the-standard-narrative-of/) [Christopher Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-ryan/) > [“When James Larrick and his colleagues studied the still relatively isolated Waorani Indians of Ecuador, they found no evidence of hypertension, heart disease, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-ryan/when-james-larrick-and-his-colleagues-studied-the-still-relatively/) [Christopher Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-ryan/) > [“The sexually insatiable woman,” declared a terrified Donald Symons, “is to be found primarily, if not exclusively, in the ideology of feminism, the hopes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-ryan/the-sexually-insatiable-woman-declared-a-terrified-donald-symons-is/) [Christopher Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-ryan/) > [“If I had had to choose my place of birth, I would have chosen a state in which everyone knew everyone else, so that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-ryan/if-i-had-had-to-choose-my-place-of-birth-i-would-have-chosen-a-state/) [Christopher Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-ryan/) > [“Skeletal remains taken from various regions of the world dating to the transition from foraging to farming all tell the same story: increased famine,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-ryan/skeletal-remains-taken-from-various-regions-of-the-world-dating-to/) [Christopher Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-ryan/) > [“Still, the frequent absence of happiness is what keeps us pursuing it, and thus makes us productive.”10 This is a curious notion of productivity—at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-ryan/still-the-frequent-absence-of-happiness-is-what-keeps-us-pursuing-it/) [Christopher Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-ryan/) > [“If you’re unhappy at the amount of sexual opportunity in your life, don’t blame the women. Instead, make sure they have equal access to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-ryan/if-you-re-unhappy-at-the-amount-of-sexual-opportunity-in-your-life/) [Christopher Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-ryan/) > [“A fire is never sated by any amount of logs, nor the ocean by rivers that flow into it; death cannot be sated by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-ryan/a-fire-is-never-sated-by-any-amount-of-logs-nor-the-ocean-by-rivers/) [Christopher Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-ryan/) > [“When you can’t block people’s access to food and shelter, and you can’t stop them from leaving, how can you control them? The ubiquitous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-ryan/when-you-can-t-block-people-s-access-to-food-and-shelter-and-you-can/) [Christopher Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-ryan/) > [“The four million Minangkabau living in West Sumatra consider themselves to be a matriarchal society. “While we in the West glorify male dominance and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-ryan/the-four-million-minangkabau-living-in-west-sumatra-consider/) [Christopher Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-ryan/) > [“If a species has cojones grandes, you can bet that males have frequent ejaculations with females who sleep around. Where the females save it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-ryan/if-a-species-has-cojones-grandes-you-can-bet-that-males-have-frequent/) [Christopher Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-ryan/) > [“And yet, despite repeated assurances that women aren't particularly sexual creatures, in cultures around the world men have gone to extraordinary lengths to control…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-ryan/and-yet-despite-repeated-assurances-that-women-aren-t-particularly/) [Christopher Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-ryan/) [Explore all 113 Christopher Ryan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-ryan/) ## More Heaven quotes > [Heaven lies around us in our infancy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-golding/heaven-lies-around-us-in-our-infancy/) [William Golding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-golding/) > [The more perfect the sight is the more delightful the beautiful object. The more perfect the appetite, the sweeter the food. The more musical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-baxter/the-more-perfect-the-sight-is-the-more-delightful-the-beautiful/) [Richard Baxter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-baxter/) > [A real Christian in an odd number anyway. He feels supreme love for One whom he has never seen, talks familiarly every day to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-real-christian-in-an-odd-number-anyway-he-feels-supreme-love-for/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I believe that on any trip to heaven, there are always detours through hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-finney/i-believe-that-on-any-trip-to-heaven-there-are-always-detours-through/) [Richard Finney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-finney/) > [When I get a chance to play golf or go on a boat with good people, take the boat out and put some lobsters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-mac/when-i-get-a-chance-to-play-golf-or-go-on-a-boat-with-good-people/) [Bernie Mac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-mac/) > [Every saved person this side of heaven owes the gospel to every lost person this side of hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-platt/every-saved-person-this-side-of-heaven-owes-the-gospel-to-every-lost/) [David Platt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-platt/) > [When you have accomplished your goal simply walk away. This is the path way to Heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/when-you-have-accomplished-your-goal-simply-walk-away-this-is-the/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [I wonder: when a Jehovah's Witness dies and goes to Heaven, does God hide behind the door and pretend He's not home?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-celio/i-wonder-when-a-jehovah-s-witness-dies-and-goes-to-heaven-does-god/) [Brian Celio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-celio/) > [By the time you have no difficulties in your life, you have achieved Heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-brown/by-the-time-you-have-no-difficulties-in-your-life-you-have-achieved/) [Charles Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-brown/) > [I'm what is known as gradually disintegrating. I don't fear the next world, or anything. I don't fear hell, and I don't look forward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katharine-hepburn/i-m-what-is-known-as-gradually-disintegrating-i-don-t-fear-the-next/) [Katharine Hepburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katharine-hepburn/) > [Now I am in the place I call this wide wide Heaven because it includes all my simplest desires but also the most humble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/now-i-am-in-the-place-i-call-this-wide-wide-heaven-because-it/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [I do not want a kingdom, or heaven; what I want is to remove the trouble of the oppressed, the poor, and the needy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-do-not-want-a-kingdom-or-heaven-what-i-want-is-to-remove-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“God is the highest good of the reasonable creature, and the enjoyment of him is the only happiness with which our souls can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-alcorn/god-is-the-highest-good-of-the-reasonable-creature-and-the-enjoyment/) [Randy Alcorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-alcorn/) > [“The Creator sat upon the throne, thinking. Behind him stretched the illimitable continent of heaven, steeped in a glory of light and color; before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-creator-sat-upon-the-throne-thinking-behind-him-stretched-the/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Take what I cannot give: my heart, body, thoughts, time, abilities, money, health, strength,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-prentiss/bring-into-captivity-every-thought-to-the-obedience-of-christ-take/) [Elizabeth Prentiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-prentiss/) [Browse all 9,540 Heaven quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heaven/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“[Man] has imagined a heaven, and has left entirely out of it the supremest of all his delights, the one ecstasy that stands first and foremost in the heart of every individual of his race…sexual intercourse! It is as if a lost and perishing person in a roasting desert should be told by a rescuer he might choose and have all longed-for things but one, and he should elect to leave out water! 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