Cruelty Quote by Comte de Lautréamont
““After some hours, the dogs, exhausted by running round, almost dead, their tongues hanging out, set upon one another and, not knowing what they are doing, tear one another into thousands of pieces with incredible rapidity. Yet they do not do this out of cruelty. One day, a glazed look in her eyes, my mother said to me: ‘When you are in bed and you hear the barking of the dogs in the countryside, hide beneath your blanket, but do not deride what they do: they have an insatiable thirst for the infinite, as you, and I, and all other pale, long-faced human beings do.’ Since that time, I have respected the dead woman’s wish. Like those dogs I feel the need for the infinite. I cannot, cannot satisfy this need. I am the son of a man and a woman, from what I have been told. This astonishes me…I believed I was something more.””
About This Quote
Source Essay: The Outsider (Les Chants de Maldoror) by Comte de Lautréamont, 1869
The passage likens human yearning for the infinite to frantic dogs, suggesting an insatiable, non‑cruel drive that cannot be satisfied, leading to existential questioning of self.
In simple terms: Humans crave the infinite like dogs, never fully satisfied.
Key Takeaway
Accept the endless quest for meaning.
Themes
existentialism
human desire
insatiable longing
Mood
thoughtful
poetic
Type
philosophical
inspirational
When to use this quote
- personal reflection
- creative writing
- spiritual contemplation
Key Concepts
philosophical
metaphorical
literary
Questions to Reflect On
- What drives our endless search for meaning?
- Can we find peace with unfulfilled desire?
A Different Perspective
The metaphor may romanticize suffering.
![“A dog is der Hund the dog; a women is die Frau the wom[an]; a horse is das Pferd, the horse; now you put that dog in the Genitive case, & is he the same dog he was before? No sir; he is das Hundes; put him in the Dative case & what is he? Why, he is dem Hund. Now you snatch him into the accusative…” quote by Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/a71/mark-twain-22_dog_a-dog-is-der-hund-the-dog-a-women-is-die_374881.jpg)
