--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If my work is pornography, so what? I…" description: "\"If my work is pornography, so what? I don't have any moral compunction about pornography. Any feelings I have about it are purely stylistic... I don't ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/256/david-salle-11131_compunction_if-my-work-is-pornography-so-what-i-don_1889948.jpg" --- # If my work is pornography, so what? I don't have any moral… ![“If my work is pornography, so what? I don't have any moral compunction about pornography. Any feelings I have about it are purely stylistic... I don't see why it should be excluded as a serious subject.” quote by David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/256/david-salle-11131_compunction_if-my-work-is-pornography-so-what-i-don_1889948.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/256/david-salle-11131_compunction_if-my-work-is-pornography-so-what-i-don_1889948.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/256/david-salle-11131_compunction_if-my-work-is-pornography-so-what-i-don_1889948.jpg) > “If my work is pornography, so what? I don't have any moral compunction about pornography. Any feelings I have about it are purely stylistic... I don't see why it should be excluded as a serious subject.” [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He argues that pornography can be a legitimate artistic subject if approached without moral bias, focusing on style. **In simple terms:** Pornography can be art when judged by style, not morality. Key Takeaway Separate moral judgments from artistic analysis. Themes art morality sexuality censorship Mood critical provocative Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - gallery exhibition - film - literature - academic debate Key Concepts aesthetic theory cultural critique Questions to Reflect On - Should art be judged independently of its moral content? - How does style influence perception of controversial subjects? A Different Perspective Moral concerns may still influence public reception and funding. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Compunction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compunction/) [Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings/) [Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral/) [Pornography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pornography/) [Serious subjects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/serious-subjects/) ## Related quotes > [There were a lot of video store owners and managers out of work, once pornography became more about streaming and downloads. But the other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-simon/there-were-a-lot-of-video-store-owners-and-managers-out-of-work-once/) [David Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-simon/) > [“She's sociopathic. She will have no moral compunction in doing whatever is in her interests. It's as simple as that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-mccall-smith/she-s-sociopathic-she-will-have-no-moral-compunction-in-doing/) [Alexander McCall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-mccall-smith/) > [Once you've seen certain things, the moral compunction drives you to act.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hiddleston/once-you-ve-seen-certain-things-the-moral-compunction-drives-you-to/) [Tom Hiddleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hiddleston/) > [I find myself, after all these years, with a built-in safety-brake that stops me from doing certain things. And one of the reasons why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helmut-newton/i-find-myself-after-all-these-years-with-a-built-in-safety-brake-that/) [Helmut Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helmut-newton/) > [My position has always been that there's two types of people opposed to pornography: those who don't know what they're talking about, and those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-flynt/my-position-has-always-been-that-there-s-two-types-of-people-opposed/) [Larry Flynt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-flynt/) > [ “The depressing majority of comics seem to be about violence of one sort or another, \[...\] And I just don’t enjoy violence. I can… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-mckean/the-depressing-majority-of-comics-seem-to-be-about-violence-of-one/) [Dave McKean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-mckean/) > [Animal rights is a serious subject, but I do my best to find humor where I can, and I have some great help: there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-dawn/animal-rights-is-a-serious-subject-but-i-do-my-best-to-find-humor/) [Karen Dawn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-dawn/) > [People complain that the religious ground is unsure who have never compelled themselves to examine it with a tithe of the care spent on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-forsyth/people-complain-that-the-religious-ground-is-unsure-who-have-never/) [Peter Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-forsyth/) > [Politics is the only serious. subject that men think themselves qualified to act upon without any previous education or instruction whatever. If it happened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-price-hughes/politics-is-the-only-serious-subject-that-men-think-themselves/) Hugh Price Hughes > [The combination of a frivolous form and a serious subject immediately unmasks the truth about our dramas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/the-combination-of-a-frivolous-form-and-a-serious-subject-immediately/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [I wanted to catch the problem of consumption, waste, poor people eating what we throw away, which is a big subject. But I didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-varda/i-wanted-to-catch-the-problem-of-consumption-waste-poor-people-eating/) [Agnes Varda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-varda/) > [Every serious man in dealing with really serious subjects carefully avoids writing. ... There does not exist, nor will there ever exist, any writing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/every-serious-man-in-dealing-with-really-serious-subjects-carefully/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [When you don't talk down to your audience, then they can grow with you. I give them a lot of credit to be able…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prince/when-you-don-t-talk-down-to-your-audience-then-they-can-grow-with-you/) [Prince](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prince/) > [Unidentified flying objects are a very serious subject which we must study fully. We appeal to all viewers to send us details of strange…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-ziegel/unidentified-flying-objects-are-a-very-serious-subject-which-we-must/) Felix Ziegel > [ I think \[director\] Malcolm Lee is a real master at being able to make you laugh while bringing serious subject-matter, so the movie doesn't… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ice-cube/i-think-director-malcolm-lee-is-a-real-master-at-being-able-to-make/) [Ice Cube](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ice-cube/) ## More by David Salle > [What most paintings do is give you a path for your eye to move around. The painting actually tells your eye, go here, now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/what-most-paintings-do-is-give-you-a-path-for-your-eye-to-move-around/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [I've always read, I've always admired writers and was lucky really to meet some extraordinary ones and become friends. Certain times you just like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/i-ve-always-read-i-ve-always-admired-writers-and-was-lucky-really-to/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [Truth is, I didn't know what the hell I was doing when I got out of Cal Arts. I think I wasted a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/truth-is-i-didn-t-know-what-the-hell-i-was-doing-when-i-got-out-of/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [I feel that the only thing that really matters in art and life is to go against the tidal wave of literalism and literal-mindedness-to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/i-feel-that-the-only-thing-that-really-matters-in-art-and-life-is-to/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [Since I moved six or seven times the first year I was in New York, I had to be able to roll up the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/since-i-moved-six-or-seven-times-the-first-year-i-was-in-new-york-i/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [People are still making paintings. People are still enjoying paintings, looking at paintings. Paintings still have something to tell us. There's a way of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/people-are-still-making-paintings-people-are-still-enjoying-paintings/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [I feel like all the American artists are aesthetically not very interesting and mired in a complaining relationship to its own culture, whereas the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/i-feel-like-all-the-american-artists-are-aesthetically-not-very/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [I think people have to be given - or take - the permission to say that something is nothing. Just because it's in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/i-think-people-have-to-be-given-or-take-the-permission-to-say-that/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [There are so many different ways to talk and think about art. We just spoke about when attitude becomes form. But when I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/there-are-so-many-different-ways-to-talk-and-think-about-art-we-just/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [I started when I was nine. Really, everything I know about color theory, composition, drawing, and painting, I learned when I was a kid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/i-started-when-i-was-nine-really-everything-i-know-about-color-theory/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [If you go to a concert, you will notice, is it loud? Is the music fast? Is it predominately strings or brass? There are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/if-you-go-to-a-concert-you-will-notice-is-it-loud-is-the-music-fast/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [I was actually dumbfounded by how some artists talked to each other. For example, it was a normal night at a bar, nothing very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/i-was-actually-dumbfounded-by-how-some-artists-talked-to-each-other/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [What if everything in a museum is crap? It's entirely possible; it's not the end of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/what-if-everything-in-a-museum-is-crap-it-s-entirely-possible-it-s/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [“good art illustrates anything at all, it’s likely to be a story you didn’t even know needed telling.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/good-art-illustrates-anything-at-all-it-s-likely-to-be-a-story-you/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [“How a painter treats this edge is the real subject of realist painting; how the brush behaves in the vicinity of an edge gives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/how-a-painter-treats-this-edge-is-the-real-subject-of-realist/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) [Explore all 61 David Salle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) ## More Compunction quotes > [What is the cause that one is hardened, and another readily moved to compunction? Listen! It springs from the will, in the latter case…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/symeon-the-new-theologian/what-is-the-cause-that-one-is-hardened-and-another-readily-moved-to/) [Symeon the New Theologian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/symeon-the-new-theologian/) > [Quick question. Does this magical skill with gray matter come with a total lack of compunction for your kind, or is it just you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-ward/quick-question-does-this-magical-skill-with-gray-matter-come-with-a/) [J.R. Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-ward/) > [I am not your God. Or if I am, I'm no God you can seek out for deliverance or explanation. I'm the kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-currie-jr/i-am-not-your-god-or-if-i-am-i-m-no-god-you-can-seek-out-for/) [Ron Currie Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-currie-jr/) > [I've spent my entire adult life with the United States as a superpower and one that had no compunction about spending what it took…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-gates/i-ve-spent-my-entire-adult-life-with-the-united-states-as-a/) [Robert M. Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-gates/) > [Prayer is not eloquence, but earnestness; not the definition of helplessness, but the feeling of it; not figures of speech, but earnestness of soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-more/prayer-is-not-eloquence-but-earnestness-not-the-definition-of/) [Hannah More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-more/) > [The industrial mind is a mind without compunction; it simply accepts that people, ultimately, will be treated as things and that things, ultimately, will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-industrial-mind-is-a-mind-without-compunction-it-simply-accepts/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [The rat had no morals, no conscience, no scruples, no consideration, no decency, no milk of rodent kindness, no compunctions, no higher feeling, no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-rat-had-no-morals-no-conscience-no-scruples-no-consideration-no/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Prayer is not eloquence but earnestness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-more/prayer-is-not-eloquence-but-earnestness/) [Hannah More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-more/) > [Cruelty is no more the cure of crimes than it is the cure of sufferings; compassion, in the first instance, is good for both;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/cruelty-is-no-more-the-cure-of-crimes-than-it-is-the-cure-of/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) > [The child who is permitted to torment, or destroy, the minutest object in creation, who will wantonly tread upon a worm, or unhumanly pass…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laetitia-pilkington/the-child-who-is-permitted-to-torment-or-destroy-the-minutest-object/) [Laetitia Pilkington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laetitia-pilkington/) > [I say if black people don't unite and begin to support themselves, their communities and their families, they might as well begin to go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-henrik-clarke/i-say-if-black-people-don-t-unite-and-begin-to-support-themselves/) [John Henrik Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-henrik-clarke/) > [I have never forgotten how the deprivation of work erodes human beings, those not working and those related to them. And from that time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-schiller/i-have-never-forgotten-how-the-deprivation-of-work-erodes-human/) [Herbert Schiller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-schiller/) > [It is strange how in some things honest people can be dishonest without the slightest compunction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-weldon-johnson/it-is-strange-how-in-some-things-honest-people-can-be-dishonest/) [James Weldon Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-weldon-johnson/) > [As the cleansing ocean closes over bin Laden's carcass, may the earth lie lightly on the countless graves of those he sentenced without compunction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/as-the-cleansing-ocean-closes-over-bin-laden-s-carcass-may-the-earth/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [Once you've seen certain things, the moral compunction drives you to act.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hiddleston/once-you-ve-seen-certain-things-the-moral-compunction-drives-you-to/) [Tom Hiddleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hiddleston/) [Browse all 22 Compunction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compunction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If my work is pornography, so what? I don't have any moral compunction about pornography. Any feelings I have about it are purely stylistic... I don't see why it should be excluded as a serious subject.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Salle" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/if-my-work-is-pornography-so-what-i-don-t-have-any-moral-compunction/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Compunction" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/if-my-work-is-pornography-so-what-i-don-t-have-any-moral-compunction/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/256/david-salle-11131_compunction_if-my-work-is-pornography-so-what-i-don_1889948.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/256/david-salle-11131_compunction_if-my-work-is-pornography-so-what-i-don_1889948.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/256/david-salle-11131_compunction_if-my-work-is-pornography-so-what-i-don_1889948.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If my work is pornography, so what? I don't have any moral compunction about pornography. Any feelings I…” — David Salle", "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": "David Salle", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If my work is pornography, so...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/if-my-work-is-pornography-so-what-i-don-t-have-any-moral-compunction/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/if-my-work-is-pornography-so-what-i-don-t-have-any-moral-compunction/#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 } } ] } ```