--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Pleasure only starts once the worm has…" description: "\"Pleasure only starts once the worm has got into the fruit; to become delightful, happiness must be tainted with poison.\" — Georges Bataille" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/924/georges-bataille-3741_delightful_pleasure-only-starts-once-the-worm-has-g_116244.jpg" --- # Pleasure only starts once the worm has got into the fruit… ![“Pleasure only starts once the worm has got into the fruit; to become delightful, happiness must be tainted with poison.” quote by Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/924/georges-bataille-3741_delightful_pleasure-only-starts-once-the-worm-has-g_116244.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/924/georges-bataille-3741_delightful_pleasure-only-starts-once-the-worm-has-g_116244.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/924/georges-bataille-3741_delightful_pleasure-only-starts-once-the-worm-has-g_116244.jpg) > “Pleasure only starts once the worm has got into the fruit; to become delightful, happiness must be tainted with poison.” [Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Pleasure emerges when something desirable is tainted by danger or transgression, suggesting that intensity often requires a hint of the forbidden. **In simple terms:** Pleasure needs a touch of danger to feel vivid. Key Takeaway Intensity thrives on contrast. Themes pleasure danger transgression dualism Mood provocative darkly sensual Type aphoristic philosophical When to use this quote - artistic creation - risk‑taking in entrepreneurship - spicy cuisine experiences Key Concepts philosophy of eroticism psychology of risk Practical Applications - designing immersive experiences - marketing edgy products Questions to Reflect On - Why do we seek danger in pleasurable experiences? - When does the pursuit of intensity become self‑destructive? A Different Perspective Equating pleasure with poison can glorify harmful behaviors. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Delightful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/delightful/) [Fruit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fruit/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure/) [Poison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poison/) ## Related quotes > [In the helter-skelter of this book, I didn't develop my views as theory. In fact, I even believe that efforts of that kind are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/in-the-helter-skelter-of-this-book-i-didn-t-develop-my-views-as/) [Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) > [“Didn’t your mom teach you to not creep up on a girl in a hearse?” I snapped even though I knew my situation wasn’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heyloqueekayy/didn-t-your-mom-teach-you-to-not-creep-up-on-a-girl-in-a-hearse-i/) HeyLoQueeKayy > [In law, what plea so tainted and corrupts, but being seasoned with a gracious voice obscures the show of evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/in-law-what-plea-so-tainted-and-corrupts-but-being-seasoned-with-a/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“The shame that tormented me was all the more corrosive for having no very clear origin: I didn't know why I felt so tainted,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/the-shame-that-tormented-me-was-all-the-more-corrosive-for-having-no/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [It's very difficult to look at it in a kind of a free manner, what reality is. That was my first struggle, to see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-yunus/it-s-very-difficult-to-look-at-it-in-a-kind-of-a-free-manner-what/) [Muhammad Yunus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-yunus/) > [So fucking frustrated with your lady. Get a flight, I send her home. Man my love is oh so tainted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyga/so-fucking-frustrated-with-your-lady-get-a-flight-i-send-her-home-man/) [Tyga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyga/) > [“Deeds done from bad motives remain everlastingly tainted.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/deeds-done-from-bad-motives-remain-everlastingly-tainted/) [Thích Nhất Hạnh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/) > [“This world tainted everything it touched, and nothing good was left—could be left – beneath its menacing gaze.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-giovanni/this-world-tainted-everything-it-touched-and-nothing-good-was-left/) [Cassandra Giovanni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-giovanni/) > [The newspaper is of necessity something of a monopoly, and its first duty is to shun the temptations of monopoly. Its primary office is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-p-scott/the-newspaper-is-of-necessity-something-of-a-monopoly-and-its-first/) [C. P. Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-p-scott/) > [“Love Untamed, unbridled, unfair Timeless, ageless, never painless Selfish, selfless, righteous n’ wicked Lingers on and on It weeps; it laughs, it hinders and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-versey/love-untamed-unbridled-unfair-timeless-ageless-never-painless-selfish/) [Jason Versey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-versey/) > [Perhaps it is time to debate culture. The common story is that in 'real' African culture, before it was tainted by the West, gender…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/perhaps-it-is-time-to-debate-culture-the-common-story-is-that-in-real/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [I don't want to write poems that are just really clear about how I'm aware of all the traps involved in writing poetry; I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-lerner/i-don-t-want-to-write-poems-that-are-just-really-clear-about-how-i-m/) [Ben Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-lerner/) > [In an era when party fundraising is badly tainted, dinners are a really good way of raising cash for campaigning. Lots of people giving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-powell/in-an-era-when-party-fundraising-is-badly-tainted-dinners-are-a/) [Lucy Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-powell/) > [I usually accept bribes from both sides so that tainted money can never influence my decision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-bacon/i-usually-accept-bribes-from-both-sides-so-that-tainted-money-can/) [Francis Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-bacon/) > [Show business got really tainted for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-chlumsky/show-business-got-really-tainted-for-me/) [Anna Chlumsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-chlumsky/) ## More by Georges Bataille > [I think that knowledge enslaves us, that at the base of all knowledge there is a servility, the acceptation of a way of life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/i-think-that-knowledge-enslaves-us-that-at-the-base-of-all-knowledge/) [Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) > [“The absent and inert girl hanging dreamless from my arms is no more foreign to me than the door or window through which I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/the-absent-and-inert-girl-hanging-dreamless-from-my-arms-is-no-more/) [Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) > [If I want to realize totality in my consciousness, I have to relate myself to an immense, ludicrous, and painful convulsion of all of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/if-i-want-to-realize-totality-in-my-consciousness-i-have-to-relate/) [Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) > [“Our only real pleasure is to squander our resources to no purpose, just as if a wound were bleeding away inside us; we always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/our-only-real-pleasure-is-to-squander-our-resources-to-no-purpose/) [Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) > [ \[F\]or academic men to be happy, the universe would have to take shape. All of philosophy has no other goal: it is a matter… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/f-or-academic-men-to-be-happy-the-universe-would-have-to-take-shape/) [Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) > [I remain in intolerable non-knowledge, which has no other way out than ecstasy itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/i-remain-in-intolerable-non-knowledge-which-has-no-other-way-out-than/) [Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) > [ \[Zarathustra\] never abandoned the watchword of not having any end, not serving a cause, because, as he knew, causes pluck off the wings we… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/zarathustra-never-abandoned-the-watchword-of-not-having-any-end-not/) [Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) > [“Pathetic creatures on their knees... Tirelessly, naively repeating, "Don't take our word for it! Alas, we're not all that logical. We say God–though in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/pathetic-creatures-on-their-knees-tirelessly-naively-repeating-don-t/) [Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) > [The sovereign being is burdened with a servitude that crushes him, and the condition of free men is deliberate servility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/the-sovereign-being-is-burdened-with-a-servitude-that-crushes-him-and/) [Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) > [The total person is first disclosed ... in areas of life that are lived frivolously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/the-total-person-is-first-disclosed-in-areas-of-life-that-are-lived/) [Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) > [Thought does not ennoble us and neither does it differentiate humans from other animals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/thought-does-not-ennoble-us-and-neither-does-it-differentiate-humans/) [Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) > [I enjoyed the innocence of unhappiness and of helplessness; could I blame myself for a sin which attracted me, which flooded me with pleasure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/i-enjoyed-the-innocence-of-unhappiness-and-of-helplessness-could-i/) [Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) > [I believe that truth has only one face: that of a violent contradiction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/i-believe-that-truth-has-only-one-face-that-of-a-violent-contradiction/) [Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) > [Literature ... is the rediscovery of childhood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/literature-is-the-rediscovery-of-childhood/) [Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) > [I don't want your love unless you know i am repulsive,and love me even as you know it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/i-don-t-want-your-love-unless-you-know-i-am-repulsive-and-love-me/) [Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) [Explore all 117 Georges Bataille quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) ## More Delightful quotes > [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/) > [In a delightful garden, sowing, planting or digging are not hardship but are done with a zeal and a certain pleasure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/in-a-delightful-garden-sowing-planting-or-digging-are-not-hardship/) [Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/) > [“I never met a pig I didn't like. All pigs are intelligent, emotional, and sensitive souls. They all love company. They all crave contact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sy-montgomery/i-never-met-a-pig-i-didn-t-like-all-pigs-are-intelligent-emotional/) [Sy Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sy-montgomery/) > [It is with the approach of winter that cats...wear their richest fur and assume an air of sumptuous and delightful opulence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-loti/it-is-with-the-approach-of-winter-that-cats-wear-their-richest-fur/) [Pierre Loti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-loti/) > [What a delightful thing this perspective is!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paolo-uccello/what-a-delightful-thing-this-perspective-is/) Paolo Uccello > [Removing prejudices is, alas! too often removing the boundary of a delightful near prospect in order to let in a shockingly extensive one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-fulke-greville/removing-prejudices-is-alas-too-often-removing-the-boundary-of-a/) [Sir Fulke Greville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-fulke-greville/) > [Someone on the internet referred to me as 'that horrible little man who's replacing Rob Lowe', which is hurtful, because I think of myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-malina/someone-on-the-internet-referred-to-me-as-that-horrible-little-man/) [Joshua Malina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-malina/) > [Once you get yourself on that path where you're willing to find something delightful in laundry and in dishwashers, it means that you train…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-bogost/once-you-get-yourself-on-that-path-where-you-re-willing-to-find/) [Ian Bogost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-bogost/) > [There are magic moments, involving great physical fatigue and intense motor excitement, that produce visions of people known in the past. As I learned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/there-are-magic-moments-involving-great-physical-fatigue-and-intense/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [A solitary American monk named Thomas Berry writes that in our relationship to nature, we have been autistic for centuries. Wrapped tightly in our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janine-benyus/a-solitary-american-monk-named-thomas-berry-writes-that-in-our/) [Janine Benyus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janine-benyus/) > [In the mind engaged in struggling with hardship, one always finds something delightful. The sorrow of disappointment arises in the complacency of satisfaction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zicheng-hong/in-the-mind-engaged-in-struggling-with-hardship-one-always-finds/) [Zicheng Hong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zicheng-hong/) > [We are at the moment looking at space as something to be entered by the tremendous thrust of a rocket because that is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/we-are-at-the-moment-looking-at-space-as-something-to-be-entered-by/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [I just adored Peter Medak, the director. He's such a character, but he was so much fun. Some directors come in and they truly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigid-brannagh/i-just-adored-peter-medak-the-director-he-s-such-a-character-but-he/) [Brigid Brannagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigid-brannagh/) > [The past is so reliable, so delightful and the best place to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-humphries/the-past-is-so-reliable-so-delightful-and-the-best-place-to-live/) [Barry Humphries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-humphries/) > [Nature is so delightful and abundant in its variations that among trees of the same kind there would not be found one which nearly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/nature-is-so-delightful-and-abundant-in-its-variations-that-among/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) [Browse all 483 Delightful quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/delightful/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Pleasure only starts once the worm has got into the fruit; to become delightful, happiness must be tainted with poison.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Georges Bataille" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/pleasure-only-starts-once-the-worm-has-got-into-the-fruit-to-become/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Delightful" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/pleasure-only-starts-once-the-worm-has-got-into-the-fruit-to-become/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/924/georges-bataille-3741_delightful_pleasure-only-starts-once-the-worm-has-g_116244.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/924/georges-bataille-3741_delightful_pleasure-only-starts-once-the-worm-has-g_116244.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/924/georges-bataille-3741_delightful_pleasure-only-starts-once-the-worm-has-g_116244.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Pleasure only starts once the worm has got into the fruit; to become delightful, happiness must be tainted…” — Georges Bataille", "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": "Georges Bataille", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Pleasure only starts once the worm...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/pleasure-only-starts-once-the-worm-has-got-into-the-fruit-to-become/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/pleasure-only-starts-once-the-worm-has-got-into-the-fruit-to-become/#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 } } ] } ```