--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I know we're not saints or virgins or…" description: "\"I know we're not saints or virgins or lunatics; we know all the lust and lavatory jokes, and most of the dirty people; we can catch buses and count our..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a08/dylan-thomas-1889_bus_i-know-we-re-not-saints-or-virgins-or-lu_926336.jpg" --- # I know we're not saints or virgins or lunatics; we know… ![“I know we're not saints or virgins or lunatics; we know all the lust and lavatory jokes, and most of the dirty people; we can catch buses and count our change and cross the roads and talk real sentences. But our innocence goes awfully deep, and our discreditable secret is that we don't know…” quote by Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a08/dylan-thomas-1889_bus_i-know-we-re-not-saints-or-virgins-or-lu_926336.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a08/dylan-thomas-1889_bus_i-know-we-re-not-saints-or-virgins-or-lu_926336.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a08/dylan-thomas-1889_bus_i-know-we-re-not-saints-or-virgins-or-lu_926336.jpg) > “I know we're not saints or virgins or lunatics; we know all the lust and lavatory jokes, and most of the dirty people; we can catch buses and count our change and cross the roads and talk real sentences. But our innocence goes awfully deep, and our discreditable secret is that we don't know anything at all, and our horrid inner secret is that we don't care that we don't.” [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Acknowledges human imperfection, ignorance, and apathy despite everyday normalcy. **In simple terms:** People are flawed, ignorant, indifferent. Key Takeaway Accept imperfection, seek meaning. Themes humanity ignorance apathy Mood cynical critical Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - daily routines - social interactions - self-awareness - ethical reflection Key Concepts existentialism social critique Questions to Reflect On - Why do we ignore our lack of knowledge? - Can apathy be overcome? A Different Perspective May foster nihilism. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Care](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/care/) [Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) [Innocence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/innocence/) [Jokes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jokes/) [Lust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lust/) [Optimistic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/optimistic/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Saint](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saint/) [Secret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secret/) ## Related quotes > [“Our discreditable secret is that we don't know anything at all, and our horrid inner secret is that we don't care that we don't.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/our-discreditable-secret-is-that-we-don-t-know-anything-at-all-and/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [Lingerie is that inner, secret glamour.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-temperley/lingerie-is-that-inner-secret-glamour/) [Alice Temperley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-temperley/) > [We learn the inner secret of happiness when we learn to direct our inner drives, our interest and our attention to something besides ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethel-percy-andrus/we-learn-the-inner-secret-of-happiness-when-we-learn-to-direct-our/) [Ethel Percy Andrus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethel-percy-andrus/) > [Prayer and meditation are my inner secret and my outer secret. My muscles are next to nothing compared to the muscles of the professional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-chinmoy/prayer-and-meditation-are-my-inner-secret-and-my-outer-secret-my/) [Sri Chinmoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-chinmoy/) > [“But then, I do not know what love is. I know lust and anger. Despair and satisfaction. But love? No. That is not for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-clare/but-then-i-do-not-know-what-love-is-i-know-lust-and-anger-despair-and/) [Jessica Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-clare/) > [“I Don’t Know whether lust is a human coarseness or a human fineness: I don’t know why death holds a so sweet lure since…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/i-don-t-know-whether-lust-is-a-human-coarseness-or-a-human-fineness-i/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [Doing, a filthy pleasure is, and short; And done, we straight repent us of the sport: Let us not rush blindly on unto it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/doing-a-filthy-pleasure-is-and-short-and-done-we-straight-repent-us/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [“Death is somewhat easier to meet when you believe, as we do, that to end is to begin. You will learn to walk and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-deangelis/death-is-somewhat-easier-to-meet-when-you-believe-as-we-do-that-to/) Camille DeAngelis > [“You know you're in lust when you're quick to fall into a reverie because dreams seem better than reality.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuel-aghado/you-know-you-re-in-lust-when-you-re-quick-to-fall-into-a-reverie/) [Emmanuel Aghado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmanuel-aghado/) > [White and shining virgin of all human virtues, ark of the covenant between earth and heaven, tender and strong companion partaking of the lion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/white-and-shining-virgin-of-all-human-virtues-ark-of-the-covenant/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [The religious school she went to, growing up, Ms. Wright said how all the girls had to wear a scarf tied to cover their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/the-religious-school-she-went-to-growing-up-ms-wright-said-how-all/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [Ye youths and virgins, when your generous blood Has drunk the warmth of fifteen summers, now The loves invite; now to new rapture wakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-armstrong/ye-youths-and-virgins-when-your-generous-blood-has-drunk-the-warmth/) [John Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-armstrong/) > [Me, my niggas and some Madonna hoes that look just like virgins but trust they down to go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drake/me-my-niggas-and-some-madonna-hoes-that-look-just-like-virgins-but/) [Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drake/) > [Instead of finding himself in nerd heaven—where every nerd gets fifty-eight virgins to role-play with—he woke up in Robert Wood Johnson with two broken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/instead-of-finding-himself-in-nerd-heaven-where-every-nerd-gets-fifty/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [The very purpose for being in this body, for every one of us, is to live and rejoice in that virgin area, that untouched,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-sri-ravi-shankar/the-very-purpose-for-being-in-this-body-for-every-one-of-us-is-to/) [Sri Sri Ravi Shankar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-sri-ravi-shankar/) ## More by Dylan Thomas > [I liked the taste of beer, its live, white lather, its brass-bright depths, the sudden world through the wet-brown walls of the glass, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/i-liked-the-taste-of-beer-its-live-white-lather-its-brass-bright/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [There is only one position for an artist anywhere; and that is upright.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/there-is-only-one-position-for-an-artist-anywhere-and-that-is-upright/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [“Thousands of miles,' I said. It's Rhosilli, USA. We're going to camp on a bit of rock that wobbles in the winds.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/thousands-of-miles-i-said-it-s-rhosilli-usa-we-re-going-to-camp-on-a/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [One Christmas was so much like another, in those years around the sea-town corner now and out of all sound except the distant speaking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/one-christmas-was-so-much-like-another-in-those-years-around-the-sea/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [I hold a beast, an angel, and a madman in me, and my enquiry is as to their working, and my problem is their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/i-hold-a-beast-an-angel-and-a-madman-in-me-and-my-enquiry-is-as-to/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [Youth calls to age across the tired years: 'What have you found,' he cries, 'what have you sought?" 'What have you found,' age answers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/youth-calls-to-age-across-the-tired-years-what-have-you-found-he/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [Do not go gentle into that goodnight, rage, rage against the dying of the light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/do-not-go-gentle-into-that-goodnight-rage-rage-against-the-dying-of/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [To begin, at the beginning...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/to-begin-at-the-beginning/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [A born writer is born scrofulous; his career is an accident dictated by physical or circumstantial disabilities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/a-born-writer-is-born-scrofulous-his-career-is-an-accident-dictated/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [Rhianon, he said, hold my hand, Rhianon. She did not hear him, but stood over his bed and fixed him with an unbroken sorrow.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/rhianon-he-said-hold-my-hand-rhianon-she-did-not-hear-him-but-stood/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [I know in London a Welsh hairdresser who has striven so vehemently to abolish his accent that he sounds like a man speaking with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/i-know-in-london-a-welsh-hairdresser-who-has-striven-so-vehemently-to/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [Dark is a way and light is a place, Heaven that never was Nor will be ever is always true "Poem on His Birthday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/dark-is-a-way-and-light-is-a-place-heaven-that-never-was-nor-will-be/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [And now, gentlemen, like your manners, I must leave you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/and-now-gentlemen-like-your-manners-i-must-leave-you/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [Now behind the eyes and secrets of the dreamers in the streets rocked to sleep by the sea, see the titbits and topsyturvies, bobs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/now-behind-the-eyes-and-secrets-of-the-dreamers-in-the-streets-rocked/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [I believe in New Yorkers. Whether they’ve ever questioned the dream in which they live, I wouldn’t know, because I won’t ever dare ask…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/i-believe-in-new-yorkers-whether-they-ve-ever-questioned-the-dream-in/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) [Explore all 201 Dylan Thomas quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) ## More Bus quotes > [“You go into extinction by being obsessed about becoming something else and then travelling in the wrong car while your real self keeps waiting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/you-go-into-extinction-by-being-obsessed-about-becoming-something/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [Literature transforms and intensifies ordinary language, deviates systematically from everyday speech. If you approach me at a bus stop and murmur Thou still unravished…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/literature-transforms-and-intensifies-ordinary-language-deviates/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [I only started driving lessons because of comedy - before that, there's be no need. There was a bus from where I lived to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-millican/i-only-started-driving-lessons-because-of-comedy-before-that-there-s/) [Sarah Millican](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-millican/) > [I've been so lucky with the people I've worked with, but I'm such a fan girl. When I moved to London at 16, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheridan-smith/i-ve-been-so-lucky-with-the-people-i-ve-worked-with-but-i-m-such-a/) [Sheridan Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheridan-smith/) > [When I came back, after all those stories about Hitler and his snub, I came back to my native country, and I could not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-owens/when-i-came-back-after-all-those-stories-about-hitler-and-his-snub-i/) [Jesse Owens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-owens/) > [No-deal Brexit could be Boris Johnson's biggest deception yet - worse than the Boris bus or the lies that had him sacked as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-davey/no-deal-brexit-could-be-boris-johnson-s-biggest-deception-yet-worse/) [Ed Davey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-davey/) > [I'm very proud of being Italian-American, but people don't realize that the mafia is just this aberration. The real community is built on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chazz-palminteri/i-m-very-proud-of-being-italian-american-but-people-don-t-realize/) [Chazz Palminteri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chazz-palminteri/) > [The idea of photography as evidence is pure bullshit. A photo is no more proof of any reality than what you may hear being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-riboud/the-idea-of-photography-as-evidence-is-pure-bullshit-a-photo-is-no/) [Marc Riboud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-riboud/) > [I don't think anything happens without the press, one way or the other. I think it's all done for it. You saw it start,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-winogrand/i-don-t-think-anything-happens-without-the-press-one-way-or-the-other/) [Garry Winogrand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-winogrand/) > [And the flavor of Pippa's kiss--bittersweet and strange--stayed with me all the way back uptown, swaying and sleepy as I sailed home on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/and-the-flavor-of-pippa-s-kiss-bittersweet-and-strange-stayed-with-me/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [Our bodies penetrate the sofas upon which we sit and the sofas penetrate our bodies. The motorbus rushes into the houses which it passes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-boccioni/our-bodies-penetrate-the-sofas-upon-which-we-sit-and-the-sofas/) [Umberto Boccioni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-boccioni/) > [Back in the day, when we'd get into a town, I would go in the phone book and look up record stores. Then I'd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-schneider/back-in-the-day-when-we-d-get-into-a-town-i-would-go-in-the-phone/) [Fred Schneider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-schneider/) > [I quietly work with my computer on the tour bus, and then I wait to make my more natural rhythms when I get home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jain/i-quietly-work-with-my-computer-on-the-tour-bus-and-then-i-wait-to/) [Jain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jain/) > [I can see that I imagine all kinds of rejection that never happens. I can see that I beg and plead for love that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/i-can-see-that-i-imagine-all-kinds-of-rejection-that-never-happens-i/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [Perhaps we've time to have a look at the Number Thirty-One bus queue before we turn in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calvin-trillin/perhaps-we-ve-time-to-have-a-look-at-the-number-thirty-one-bus-queue/) [Calvin Trillin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calvin-trillin/) Browse all 1,135 Bus quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I know we're not saints or virgins or lunatics; we know all the lust and lavatory jokes, and most of the dirty people; we can catch buses and count our change and cross the roads and talk real sentences. But our innocence goes awfully deep, and our discreditable secret is that we don't know anything at all, and our horrid inner secret is that we don't care that we don't.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Dylan Thomas" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/i-know-we-re-not-saints-or-virgins-or-lunatics-we-know-all-the-lust/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bus" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/i-know-we-re-not-saints-or-virgins-or-lunatics-we-know-all-the-lust/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a08/dylan-thomas-1889_bus_i-know-we-re-not-saints-or-virgins-or-lu_926336.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a08/dylan-thomas-1889_bus_i-know-we-re-not-saints-or-virgins-or-lu_926336.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a08/dylan-thomas-1889_bus_i-know-we-re-not-saints-or-virgins-or-lu_926336.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I know we're not saints or virgins or lunatics; we know all the lust and lavatory jokes, and most of the…” — Dylan Thomas", "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": "Dylan Thomas", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I know we're not saints or...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/i-know-we-re-not-saints-or-virgins-or-lunatics-we-know-all-the-lust/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/i-know-we-re-not-saints-or-virgins-or-lunatics-we-know-all-the-lust/#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 } } ] } ```