--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Yes, Eden was beautiful- and if I had to…" description: "\"Yes, Eden was beautiful- and if I had to squeeze through corporeal keyholes to crash it- so be it. (Hasn’t it bothered you, this part of the story, my ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03d/glen-duncan-1307_animal_yes-eden-was-beautiful-and-if-i-had-to-s_1586572.jpg" --- # Yes, Eden was beautiful- and if I had to squeeze through… ![“Yes, Eden was beautiful- and if I had to squeeze through corporeal keyholes to crash it- so be it. (Hasn’t it bothered you, this part of the story, my being there, I mean? What was I doing there? ‘Presume not the ways of God to scan,’ you’ve been told in umpteen variations, ‘the proper study of…” quote by Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03d/glen-duncan-1307_animal_yes-eden-was-beautiful-and-if-i-had-to-s_1586572.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03d/glen-duncan-1307_animal_yes-eden-was-beautiful-and-if-i-had-to-s_1586572.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03d/glen-duncan-1307_animal_yes-eden-was-beautiful-and-if-i-had-to-s_1586572.jpg) > “Yes, Eden was beautiful- and if I had to squeeze through corporeal keyholes to crash it- so be it. (Hasn’t it bothered you, this part of the story, my being there, I mean? What was I doing there? ‘Presume not the ways of God to scan,’ you’ve been told in umpteen variations, ‘the proper study of Mankind is Man.’ Maybe so, but what, excuse me, was the Devil doing in Eden?) I took the forms of animals. I found I could. (That’s generally my reason for doing something, by the way, because I find I can.)” [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker reflects on humanity’s curiosity and transgression, likening it to a desire to explore forbidden realms and assume new forms, questioning divine intent and personal agency. **In simple terms:** Human curiosity drives us to cross boundaries and try new identities. Key Takeaway Embrace curiosity but respect limits. Themes curiosity transgression identity divine humanity Mood thoughtful introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal reflection - creative writing - spiritual questioning Key Concepts existentialism free will theology Questions to Reflect On - What boundaries are worth crossing? - How does assuming new forms change self‑perception? A Different Perspective The metaphor may obscure practical moral implications. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Beautiful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beautiful/) [Being there](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being-there/) [Bothered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bothered/) [Crash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crash/) [Devil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devil/) [Doing Eden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doing-eden-6003922/) [Eden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eden/) [Eden Beautiful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eden-beautiful-1836791/) [Eden Took](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eden-took-1651000/) [Excuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/excuse/) [Excuse me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/excuse-me/) [Form](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/form/) [Found](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/found/) [Keyholes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/keyholes/) [Mankind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mankind/) [Mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Study](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/study/) [Variation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/variation/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Yes Eden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yes-eden-6003923/) ## Related quotes > [Barbara Eden is the most beautiful girl in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-hagman/barbara-eden-is-the-most-beautiful-girl-in-the-world/) [Larry Hagman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-hagman/) > [The world was all before them, where to choose Their place of rest, and Providence their guide: They hand in hand, with wandering steps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/the-world-was-all-before-them-where-to-choose-their-place-of-rest-and/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [“So spake our mother Eve, and Adam heard Well pleased, but answered not; for now too nigh Th' Archangel stood, and from the other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/so-spake-our-mother-eve-and-adam-heard-well-pleased-but-answered-not/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [“Some natural tears they dropped, but wiped them soon; The world was all before them, where to choose their place of rest, and Providence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/some-natural-tears-they-dropped-but-wiped-them-soon-the-world-was-all/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [They, looking back, all the eastern side beheld Of Paradise, so late their happy seat, Waved over by that flaming brand, the gate With…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/they-looking-back-all-the-eastern-side-beheld-of-paradise-so-late/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [Imagine any problem you have to be a huge, locked door standing in front of you. Now see yourself taking a golden key out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/imagine-any-problem-you-have-to-be-a-huge-locked-door-standing-in/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [“They both had weak eyes, which I had long attributed to their chronically looking in at keyholes, and they were always at hand when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/they-both-had-weak-eyes-which-i-had-long-attributed-to-their/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [Read. It makes you more intelligent. It’s that simple. We all see the universe through the tiny keyhole of our own eyes, and every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethan-hawke/read-it-makes-you-more-intelligent-it-s-that-simple-we-all-see-the/) [Ethan Hawke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethan-hawke/) > [Hitherto the nude has always been represented in poses which presuppose an audience. But my women are simple, honest creatures who are concerned with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-degas/hitherto-the-nude-has-always-been-represented-in-poses-which/) [Edgar Degas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-degas/) > [The best of lessons, for a good many people, would be to listen at a keyhole. It is a pity for such that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-swetchine/the-best-of-lessons-for-a-good-many-people-would-be-to-listen-at-a/) [Sophie Swetchine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-swetchine/) > [The keyhole is my lens as a writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-rodrigues/the-keyhole-is-my-lens-as-a-writer/) [Nelson Rodrigues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-rodrigues/) > [No one demands more caution than a spy, and when someone has the skeleton key to minds, counter him by leaving the key of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baltasar-gracian/no-one-demands-more-caution-than-a-spy-and-when-someone-has-the/) [Baltasar Gracian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baltasar-gracian/) > [The best of our theater is standing on tiptoe, striving to see over the shoulders of father and mother. The worst is exploiting and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-miller/the-best-of-our-theater-is-standing-on-tiptoe-striving-to-see-over/) [Arthur Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-miller/) > [Perhaps there's another, much larger story behind the printed one, a story that changes just as our own world does. And the letters on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/perhaps-there-s-another-much-larger-story-behind-the-printed-one-a/) [Cornelia Funke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/) > [There were doors that looked like large keyholes, others that resembled the entrances to caves, there were golden doors, some were padded and some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ende/there-were-doors-that-looked-like-large-keyholes-others-that/) [Michael Ende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ende/) ## More by Glen Duncan > [Nineteenth-century English literature I know; 19th-century sewage systems, not so much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/nineteenth-century-english-literature-i-know-19th-century-sewage/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [“For the longest time the romantic explanation for low rates of female infection endured: Possession of a womb, it was supposed, conferred a gentleness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/for-the-longest-time-the-romantic-explanation-for-low-rates-of-female/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [“The question 'What was there before creation?' is meaningless. Time is a property of creation, therefore before creation there was no before creation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/the-question-what-was-there-before-creation-is-meaningless-time-is-a/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [“The beauty spot by her lip was one of a dozen or so scattered over her body. My new constellations.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/the-beauty-spot-by-her-lip-was-one-of-a-dozen-or-so-scattered-over/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [Fairy tales read before bed tend to make me dream. They're all quite violent stories, as are my dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/fairy-tales-read-before-bed-tend-to-make-me-dream-they-re-all-quite/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [I don’t know where the universe came from or what happens to creatures when they die. I don’t know if the whole thing’s an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/i-don-t-know-where-the-universe-came-from-or-what-happens-to/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [In a fit of pique, I said to my agent, 'I'm going to write something you can sell.' The idea was to write a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/in-a-fit-of-pique-i-said-to-my-agent-i-m-going-to-write-something-you/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [“The Mortals are free, Lucifer. What they've done they've done from within themselves. - Raphael”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/the-mortals-are-free-lucifer-what-they-ve-done-they-ve-done-from/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [One day the ordinariness will be terminally punctuated by the extraordinary full stop of death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/one-day-the-ordinariness-will-be-terminally-punctuated-by-the/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [When I see gurgling retarded children (that's God's doing, by the way, not mine) happily styling their hair with their own stinking mards, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/when-i-see-gurgling-retarded-children-that-s-god-s-doing-by-the-way/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [“She understood the genre constraints, the decencies we were supposed to be observing. The morally cosy vision allows the embrace of monstrosity only as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/she-understood-the-genre-constraints-the-decencies-we-were-supposed/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [“Show us the world's not the way we thought it was and part of us rejoices.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/show-us-the-world-s-not-the-way-we-thought-it-was-and-part-of-us/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [“It’s just what you’re stuck with, the lousy furniture you can’t change. The educated me knows hell’s nothing, a fiction I happened to inherit.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/it-s-just-what-you-re-stuck-with-the-lousy-furniture-you-can-t-change/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [“Afterwards, sitting on my bunk, I cried. I read somewhere that when you’re a kid it’s people’s cruelty that makes you cry, then when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/afterwards-sitting-on-my-bunk-i-cried-i-read-somewhere-that-when-you/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [“The absurdity of it, she thought, this quest for the love of a man who was her equal. She loathed herself for it. She…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/the-absurdity-of-it-she-thought-this-quest-for-the-love-of-a-man-who/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) [Explore all 259 Glen Duncan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) ## More Animal quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. As one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-phoenix/i-was-3-years-old-to-this-day-it-is-a-vivid-memory-my-family-and-i/) [Joaquin Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-phoenix/) > [Animals know nothing of themselves, and they also know nothing of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/animals-know-nothing-of-themselves-and-they-also-know-nothing-of-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Humans are animals too, but some do not like to work from expectations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/humans-are-animals-too-but-some-do-not-like-to-work-from-expectations/) [Mak\_786](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/) > [When grubbing for necessities man is still an animal. He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous and extravagant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/when-grubbing-for-necessities-man-is-still-an-animal-he-becomes/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [I'm 38 and I'm single, and I'm having my most intense and gratifying relationship with a dog. But we all learn about love in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-knapp/i-m-38-and-i-m-single-and-i-m-having-my-most-intense-and-gratifying/) [Caroline Knapp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-knapp/) > [Practically all animals which move fast in a homogeneous medium have found means of giving their body a streamlined shape, thereby reducing friction to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/practically-all-animals-which-move-fast-in-a-homogeneous-medium-have/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/a-horse-a-horse-my-kingdom-for-a-horse/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“it is a federal system of sadistic torture, vivisection, and animal genocide, which has been carried on for decades under the fraudulent guise of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tobias/it-is-a-federal-system-of-sadistic-torture-vivisection-and-animal/) [Michael Tobias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tobias/) > [“What does it mean to be a self-conscious animal? The idea is ludicrous, if it is not monstrous. It means to know that one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-self-conscious-animal-the-idea-is-ludicrous/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) > [We must love animals in such a powerful way that we should reject to eat them!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/we-must-love-animals-in-such-a-powerful-way-that-we-should-reject-to/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“The universe contains any amount of horrible ways to be woken up, such as the noise of the mob breaking down the front door,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/the-universe-contains-any-amount-of-horrible-ways-to-be-woken-up-such/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [This brings me back to the image of Kafka standing before a fish in the Berlin aquarium, a fish on which his gaze fell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/this-brings-me-back-to-the-image-of-kafka-standing-before-a-fish-in/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [That dog, I say that dog is lower than a snake full of buckshot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/foghorn-leghorn/that-dog-i-say-that-dog-is-lower-than-a-snake-full-of-buckshot/) [Foghorn Leghorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/foghorn-leghorn/) > [I bet plants go like 'Weeeeeeeee!' whenever they're swallowed by a giraffe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-bet-plants-go-like-weeeeeeeee-whenever-they-re-swallowed-by-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Animal rights without veganism is like human rights with slavery. It makes no sense. None whatsoever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-l-francione/animal-rights-without-veganism-is-like-human-rights-with-slavery-it/) [Gary L. Francione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-l-francione/) [Browse all 13,456 Animal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Yes, Eden was beautiful- and if I had to squeeze through corporeal keyholes to crash it- so be it. (Hasn’t it bothered you, this part of the story, my being there, I mean? What was I doing there? ‘Presume not the ways of God to scan,’ you’ve been told in umpteen variations, ‘the proper study of Mankind is Man.’ Maybe so, but what, excuse me, was the Devil doing in Eden?) I took the forms of animals. I found I could. 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