--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We wake from our doings in a deep sweat…" description: "\"“We wake from our doings in a deep sweat for that they happened in a house without an address, in a street in no town, citizened with people with no na..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc6/djuna-barnes-3957_accuse_we-wake-from-our-doings-in-a-deep-sweat_1066324.jpg" --- # We wake from our doings in a deep sweat for that they… ![“We wake from our doings in a deep sweat for that they happened in a house without an address, in a street in no town, citizened with people with no names with which to deny them. Their very lack of identity makes them ourselves. For by a street number, by a house, by a name, we cease to accuse…” quote by Djuna Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc6/djuna-barnes-3957_accuse_we-wake-from-our-doings-in-a-deep-sweat_1066324.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc6/djuna-barnes-3957_accuse_we-wake-from-our-doings-in-a-deep-sweat_1066324.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc6/djuna-barnes-3957_accuse_we-wake-from-our-doings-in-a-deep-sweat_1066324.jpg) > ““We wake from our doings in a deep sweat for that they happened in a house without an address, in a street in no town, citizened with people with no names with which to deny them. Their very lack of identity makes them ourselves. For by a street number, by a house, by a name, we cease to accuse ourselves. Sleep demands of us a guilty immunity. There is not one of us who, given an eternal incognito, a thumbprint nowhere set against our souls, would not commit rape, murder and all abominations.”” [Djuna Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/djuna-barnes/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote suggests that anonymity removes personal accountability, allowing people to commit grave sins without feeling responsible. **In simple terms:** Anonymity hides guilt, leading to immoral acts. Key Takeaway Recognize how identity shapes moral responsibility. Themes identity morality anonymity guilt responsibility Mood reflective somber critical Type philosophical ethical literary When to use this quote - legal systems - online behavior - war crimes - corporate misconduct - personal relationships Key Concepts existentialism psychology social contract Questions to Reflect On - How does anonymity affect your ethical choices? - Can accountability be maintained without explicit identity? A Different Perspective Even with a name, people may still act immorally; anonymity is not the sole cause of wrongdoing. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accuse/) [Accuse Sleep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accuse-sleep-2632647/) [Identity Makes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity-makes-2632648/) [Lack Identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lack-identity-2632645/) [Names Deny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/names-deny-2632646/) [Nightwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nightwood-131810/) ## Related quotes > [Both art and the artist lack identity and define themselves only through their encounter with each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-rosenberg/both-art-and-the-artist-lack-identity-and-define-themselves-only/) [Harold Rosenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-rosenberg/) > [“No matter where and when you meet him you feel that he has come from some place-no matter from what place he has come-some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/djuna-barnes/no-matter-where-and-when-you-meet-him-you-feel-that-he-has-come-from/) [Djuna Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/djuna-barnes/) > [“I also know this,’ he went on: ‘One cup poured into another makes different water; tears shed by one eye would blind if wept…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/djuna-barnes/i-also-know-this-he-went-on-one-cup-poured-into-another-makes/) [Djuna Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/djuna-barnes/) > [“His sanity is an unknown room: a known room is always smaller than an unknown.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/djuna-barnes/his-sanity-is-an-unknown-room-a-known-room-is-always-smaller-than-an/) [Djuna Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/djuna-barnes/) > [“Man makes his history with the one hand and "holds it up" with the other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/djuna-barnes/man-makes-his-history-with-the-one-hand-and-holds-it-up-with-the-other/) [Djuna Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/djuna-barnes/) > [“Man is born as he dies, rebuking cleanliness;”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/djuna-barnes/man-is-born-as-he-dies-rebuking-cleanliness/) [Djuna Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/djuna-barnes/) > [“Those who turn the day into night, the young, the drug addict, the profligate, the drunken and that most miserable, the lover who watches…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/djuna-barnes/those-who-turn-the-day-into-night-the-young-the-drug-addict-the/) [Djuna Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/djuna-barnes/) > [“No man need curing of his individual sickness; his universal malady is what he should look to.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/djuna-barnes/no-man-need-curing-of-his-individual-sickness-his-universal-malady-is/) [Djuna Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/djuna-barnes/) > [Can you accuse me, if a man is putting a rope around my neck, of being violent, when I violently struggle against this lyncher…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/can-you-accuse-me-if-a-man-is-putting-a-rope-around-my-neck-of-being/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [We know that we are not collectively guilty, so how can we accuse any other nation, no matter what some of its people have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-wiesenthal/we-know-that-we-are-not-collectively-guilty-so-how-can-we-accuse-any/) [Simon Wiesenthal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-wiesenthal/) > [You can accuse Europeans of being many things - except fast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-angel-gurria/you-can-accuse-europeans-of-being-many-things-except-fast/) [Jose Angel Gurria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-angel-gurria/) > [When something goes wrong, accuse yourself first. Even the wisdom of Plato or Solomon can wobble and go blind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/when-something-goes-wrong-accuse-yourself-first-even-the-wisdom-of/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [“Some will accuse me of being judgmental. Thank you. And proud of it. You wreck a kid's life, I have no pity for you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/some-will-accuse-me-of-being-judgmental-thank-you-and-proud-of-it-you/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [When a man is not wanted in the village, he is always accused of raising dust even when he falls in a pool of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/when-a-man-is-not-wanted-in-the-village-he-is-always-accused-of/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [To blame and accuse other people, is to choose to empower them, to control us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-covey/to-blame-and-accuse-other-people-is-to-choose-to-empower-them-to/) [Stephen Covey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-covey/) ## More by Djuna Barnes > [“There goes the dismantled—Love has fallen off her wall. A religious woman,” he thought to himself, “without the joy and safety of the Catholic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/djuna-barnes/there-goes-the-dismantled-love-has-fallen-off-her-wall-a-religious/) [Djuna Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/djuna-barnes/) > [Of course I think of the past and of Paris, what else is there to remember?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/djuna-barnes/of-course-i-think-of-the-past-and-of-paris-what-else-is-there-to/) [Djuna Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/djuna-barnes/) > [A strong sense of identity gives man an idea he can do no wrong; too little accomplishes the same.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/djuna-barnes/a-strong-sense-of-identity-gives-man-an-idea-he-can-do-no-wrong-too/) [Djuna Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/djuna-barnes/) > [My war brought me many things; let yours bring you as much. Life is not to be told, call it as loud as you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/djuna-barnes/my-war-brought-me-many-things-let-yours-bring-you-as-much-life-is-not/) [Djuna Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/djuna-barnes/) > [When one wants to become cognizant of the color and the texture of the soil, one does not get a ladder; one gets a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/djuna-barnes/when-one-wants-to-become-cognizant-of-the-color-and-the-texture-of/) [Djuna Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/djuna-barnes/) > [I can draw and write, and you'd be foolish not to hire me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/djuna-barnes/i-can-draw-and-write-and-you-d-be-foolish-not-to-hire-me/) [Djuna Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/djuna-barnes/) > [“The perfume that her body exhaled was of the quality of that earth-flesh, fungi, which smells of captured dampness and yet is so dry,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/djuna-barnes/the-perfume-that-her-body-exhaled-was-of-the-quality-of-that-earth/) [Djuna Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/djuna-barnes/) > [God,' she cried, 'what is love? Man seeking his own head? The human head, so rented by misery that even the teeth weigh! She…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/djuna-barnes/god-she-cried-what-is-love-man-seeking-his-own-head-the-human-head-so/) [Djuna Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/djuna-barnes/) > [Suffering for love is how I have learned practically everything I know, love of grandmother up and on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/djuna-barnes/suffering-for-love-is-how-i-have-learned-practically-everything-i/) [Djuna Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/djuna-barnes/) > [“No man need curing of his individual sickness; his universal malady is what he should look to.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/djuna-barnes/no-man-need-curing-of-his-individual-sickness-his-universal-malady-is/) [Djuna Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/djuna-barnes/) > [When autumn shadows throw their patterns across the land, they are not the images of fragile, dying leaves, not the bared arms of lofty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/djuna-barnes/when-autumn-shadows-throw-their-patterns-across-the-land-they-are-not/) [Djuna Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/djuna-barnes/) > [Our bones ache only while the flesh is on them. Stretch it as thin as the temple flesh of an ailing woman and still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/djuna-barnes/our-bones-ache-only-while-the-flesh-is-on-them-stretch-it-as-thin-as/) [Djuna Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/djuna-barnes/) > [“I tell you, Madame, if one gave birth to a heart on a plate, it would say “Love” and twitch like the lopped leg…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/djuna-barnes/i-tell-you-madame-if-one-gave-birth-to-a-heart-on-a-plate-it-would/) [Djuna Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/djuna-barnes/) > [“Those who turn the day into night, the young, the drug addict, the profligate, the drunken and that most miserable, the lover who watches…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/djuna-barnes/those-who-turn-the-day-into-night-the-young-the-drug-addict-the/) [Djuna Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/djuna-barnes/) > [I couldn't ever boil potatoes over the heat of your affection. Your love would never bridge a gap; it wouldn't even fill up the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/djuna-barnes/i-couldn-t-ever-boil-potatoes-over-the-heat-of-your-affection-your/) [Djuna Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/djuna-barnes/) [Explore all 116 Djuna Barnes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/djuna-barnes/) ## More Accuse quotes > [To blame and accuse other people, is to choose to empower them, to control us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-covey/to-blame-and-accuse-other-people-is-to-choose-to-empower-them-to/) [Stephen Covey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-covey/) > [When a man is not wanted in the village, he is always accused of raising dust even when he falls in a pool of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/when-a-man-is-not-wanted-in-the-village-he-is-always-accused-of/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [“Some will accuse me of being judgmental. Thank you. And proud of it. You wreck a kid's life, I have no pity for you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/some-will-accuse-me-of-being-judgmental-thank-you-and-proud-of-it-you/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [When something goes wrong, accuse yourself first. Even the wisdom of Plato or Solomon can wobble and go blind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/when-something-goes-wrong-accuse-yourself-first-even-the-wisdom-of/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [You can accuse Europeans of being many things - except fast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-angel-gurria/you-can-accuse-europeans-of-being-many-things-except-fast/) [Jose Angel Gurria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-angel-gurria/) > [We know that we are not collectively guilty, so how can we accuse any other nation, no matter what some of its people have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-wiesenthal/we-know-that-we-are-not-collectively-guilty-so-how-can-we-accuse-any/) [Simon Wiesenthal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-wiesenthal/) > [Can you accuse me, if a man is putting a rope around my neck, of being violent, when I violently struggle against this lyncher…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/can-you-accuse-me-if-a-man-is-putting-a-rope-around-my-neck-of-being/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [“Looks sure can be deceiving: not every ‘ugly’ person is a ‘bad’ person (or is guilty of whatever it is that they are accused…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/looks-sure-can-be-deceiving-not-every-ugly-person-is-a-bad-person-or/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [Just tell the truth, and they'll accuse you of writing black humor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-willeford/just-tell-the-truth-and-they-ll-accuse-you-of-writing-black-humor/) [Charles Willeford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-willeford/) > [We live in a world, a medieval type of world, where someone can accuse you - through gossip and hearsay, and all of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rand-paul/we-live-in-a-world-a-medieval-type-of-world-where-someone-can-accuse/) [Rand Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rand-paul/) > [It is the writer's business not to accuse and not to prosecute, but to champion the guilty, once they are condemned and suffer punishment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/it-is-the-writer-s-business-not-to-accuse-and-not-to-prosecute-but-to/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [Our lives are the results of our choices. To blame and accuse other people, the environment, or other extrinsic factors is to choose to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-covey/our-lives-are-the-results-of-our-choices-to-blame-and-accuse-other/) [Stephen Covey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-covey/) > [“this is the crime of which I accuse my country and my countrymen, and for which neither I nor time nor history will ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/this-is-the-crime-of-which-i-accuse-my-country-and-my-countrymen-and/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) > [The last thing I would accuse a cat of is innocence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-graham-paley/the-last-thing-i-would-accuse-a-cat-of-is-innocence/) [Edward Graham Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-graham-paley/) > [I am falsely accused, without proof, of using my position for personal profit. Many who accuse me have lifestyles and spending habits that make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-am-falsely-accused-without-proof-of-using-my-position-for-personal/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 150 Accuse quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accuse/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“We wake from our doings in a deep sweat for that they happened in a house without an address, in a street in no town, citizened with people with no names with which to deny them. Their very lack of identity makes them ourselves. For by a street number, by a house, by a name, we cease to accuse ourselves. Sleep demands of us a guilty immunity. 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