--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To others, the universe seems decent…" description: "\"To others, the universe seems decent because decent people have welded eyes. That is why they fear lewdness. They are never frightened by the crowing o..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83a/georges-bataille-3741_decent_to-others-the-universe-seems-decent-beca_2346773.jpg" --- # To others, the universe seems decent because decent people… ![“To others, the universe seems decent because decent people have welded eyes. That is why they fear lewdness. They are never frightened by the crowing of a rooster or when strolling under a starry heaven. In general, people savor the "pleasures of the flesh" only on the condition that they may be…” quote by Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83a/georges-bataille-3741_decent_to-others-the-universe-seems-decent-beca_2346773.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83a/georges-bataille-3741_decent_to-others-the-universe-seems-decent-beca_2346773.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83a/georges-bataille-3741_decent_to-others-the-universe-seems-decent-beca_2346773.jpg) > “To others, the universe seems decent because decent people have welded eyes. That is why they fear lewdness. They are never frightened by the crowing of a rooster or when strolling under a starry heaven. In general, people savor the "pleasures of the flesh" only on the condition that they may be insipid.” [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. He suggests people fear moral corruption but accept bodily pleasures only when they become dull **In simple terms:** People fear indecency yet find pleasure in the mundane Key Takeaway Question the limits of moral fear and sensory desire Themes philosophy morality desire human nature Mood provocative introspective Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - personal relationships - art criticism - ethical debates Key Concepts ethical relativism sensory experience existential dread Questions to Reflect On - Why do societies label certain desires as indecent? - Can embracing the mundane reduce fear of excess? A Different Perspective Moral judgments can be arbitrary and suppress authentic experience ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Heaven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heaven/) [Lust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lust/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure/) [Roosters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/roosters/) [Universe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universe/) ## Related quotes > [“To others, the universe seems decent because decent people have gelded eyes. That is why they fear lewdness. They are never frightened by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/to-others-the-universe-seems-decent-because-decent-people-have-gelded/) [Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) > [But virtue never will be mov'd, Though lewdness court it in a shape of heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/but-virtue-never-will-be-mov-d-though-lewdness-court-it-in-a-shape-of/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Men, gay or straight, can get beauty and lewdness into one image. Women are forever softening, censoring, politicizing. ?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/men-gay-or-straight-can-get-beauty-and-lewdness-into-one-image-women/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [An affected laugh shows lack of self-respect in a man and lewdness in a woman. It is carelessness to go about with one's hands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yamamoto-tsunetomo/an-affected-laugh-shows-lack-of-self-respect-in-a-man-and-lewdness-in/) [Yamamoto Tsunetomo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yamamoto-tsunetomo/) > [Anne of Austria (with great submission to a Crowned Head do I say it) was a B----. She had spirit and courage without parts,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/anne-of-austria-with-great-submission-to-a-crowned-head-do-i-say-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“But virtue, as it never will be moved, Though lewdness court it in a shape of heaven, So lust, though to a radiant angel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/but-virtue-as-it-never-will-be-moved-though-lewdness-court-it-in-a/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [In Irena’s head the alcohol plays a double role: it frees her fantasy, encourages her boldness, makes her sensual, and at the same time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/in-irena-s-head-the-alcohol-plays-a-double-role-it-frees-her-fantasy/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [Jesting and levity lead a man to lewdness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabbi-akiva/jesting-and-levity-lead-a-man-to-lewdness/) [Rabbi Akiva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabbi-akiva/) > [I do not understand the capricious lewdness of the sleeping mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/i-do-not-understand-the-capricious-lewdness-of-the-sleeping-mind/) [John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) > [“I do not understand the capricious lewdness of a sleeping mind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/i-do-not-understand-the-capricious-lewdness-of-a-sleeping-mind/) [John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) > [Let man only approach his own self with a deep respect, even reverence for all that the creative soul, the God-mystery within us, puts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/let-man-only-approach-his-own-self-with-a-deep-respect-even-reverence/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [There’s a morning when presence comes over your soul. You sing like a rooster in your earth-colored shape. Your heart hears and, no longer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/there-s-a-morning-when-presence-comes-over-your-soul-you-sing-like-a/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [Then, early, early, early in the morning-just as in countless Disney films-I heard a rooster crow. But guess what? They don't do it just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vivian-vande-velde/then-early-early-early-in-the-morning-just-as-in-countless-disney/) [Vivian Vande Velde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vivian-vande-velde/) > [To get a better piece of chicken, you'd have to be a rooster.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mickey-mantle/to-get-a-better-piece-of-chicken-you-d-have-to-be-a-rooster/) [Mickey Mantle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mickey-mantle/) > [We old roosters must be cautious. Don't try to outwit your arteries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-j-perelman/we-old-roosters-must-be-cautious-don-t-try-to-outwit-your-arteries/) [S. J. Perelman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-j-perelman/) ## 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/) > [Pleasure only starts once the worm has got into the fruit; to become delightful, happiness must be tainted with poison.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/pleasure-only-starts-once-the-worm-has-got-into-the-fruit-to-become/) [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/) [Explore all 117 Georges Bataille quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) ## More Decent quotes > [Be neither too early in the fashion, nor too long out of it, nor too precisely in it; what custom hath civilized is become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-quarles/be-neither-too-early-in-the-fashion-nor-too-long-out-of-it-nor-too/) [Francis Quarles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-quarles/) > [Peace is an ongoing process. It begins with the first step and it does not end. We, all of us alive today, are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-krieger/peace-is-an-ongoing-process-it-begins-with-the-first-step-and-it-does/) [David Krieger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-krieger/) > [As long as I can sing halfway decent, I'd rather sing than act. There's nothing like being in good voice, feeling good, having good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-keel/as-long-as-i-can-sing-halfway-decent-i-d-rather-sing-than-act-there-s/) [Howard Keel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-keel/) > [You weren't a decent man and you didn't do your best. We none of us were and none of us did.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-weren-t-a-decent-man-and-you-didn-t-do-your-best-we-none-of-us/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Sometimes the challenge of beating the jet lag and getting a decent sleep can be as hard to solve as finding the right setup…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/romain-grosjean/sometimes-the-challenge-of-beating-the-jet-lag-and-getting-a-decent/) [Romain Grosjean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/romain-grosjean/) > [For it is an absurdity to call a country civilized in which a decent and industrious man, laboriously mastering a trade which is valuble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/for-it-is-an-absurdity-to-call-a-country-civilized-in-which-a-decent/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [If you listen to the radio for a whole hour there's maybe one decent song. The rest is mass-produced garbage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/if-you-listen-to-the-radio-for-a-whole-hour-there-s-maybe-one-decent/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Music and the arts feed our souls, but a decent wage puts food on the table. Musicians, fans of music, and grassroots political organizations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-morello/music-and-the-arts-feed-our-souls-but-a-decent-wage-puts-food-on-the/) [Tom Morello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-morello/) > [The 'key-log' which must be moved to release the evolutionary process for an ethic is simply this: quit thinking about decent land-use as solely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/land-ethic/the-key-log-which-must-be-moved-to-release-the-evolutionary-process/) Land ethic > [The recurrent laryngeal nerve - which runs from the head to the voice box - goes all the way down into the chest, loops…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-recurrent-laryngeal-nerve-which-runs-from-the-head-to-the-voice/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Every New Yorker spends a certain amount of nervous energy thinking, "How can I afford to stay here? What do I have to sell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-zukin/every-new-yorker-spends-a-certain-amount-of-nervous-energy-thinking/) [Sharon Zukin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-zukin/) > [It is something that most parents hope for in life: That their children will be moderately successful, polite, decent human beings. Anything on top…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-kramer/it-is-something-that-most-parents-hope-for-in-life-that-their/) [Jerry Kramer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-kramer/) > [ \[Religion\] attacks us in our deepest integrity - the core of our self-respect. Religion says that we would not know right from wrong, we… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/religion-attacks-us-in-our-deepest-integrity-the-core-of-our-self/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [takes a devil to make a decent angel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-spanbauer/takes-a-devil-to-make-a-decent-angel/) [Tom Spanbauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-spanbauer/) > [I guess the only thing to do now is meet his parents. I'm sure they're decent people. I mean they gotta be if they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-de-niro/i-guess-the-only-thing-to-do-now-is-meet-his-parents-i-m-sure-they-re/) [Robert De Niro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-de-niro/) Browse all 1,392 Decent quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "To others, the universe seems decent because decent people have welded eyes. That is why they fear lewdness. 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