--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Perhaps the sexual life is the great…" description: "\"Perhaps the sexual life is the great test. If we can survive it with charity to those we love and with affection to those we have betrayed, we needn't ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff4/graham-greene-441_affection_perhaps-the-sexual-life-is-the-great-tes_88118.jpg" --- # Perhaps the sexual life is the great test. If we can… ![“Perhaps the sexual life is the great test. If we can survive it with charity to those we love and with affection to those we have betrayed, we needn't worry so much about the good and the bad in us. But jealousy, distrust, cruelty, revenge, recrimination ... then we fail. The wrong is in that…” quote by Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff4/graham-greene-441_affection_perhaps-the-sexual-life-is-the-great-tes_88118.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff4/graham-greene-441_affection_perhaps-the-sexual-life-is-the-great-tes_88118.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff4/graham-greene-441_affection_perhaps-the-sexual-life-is-the-great-tes_88118.jpg) > “Perhaps the sexual life is the great test. If we can survive it with charity to those we love and with affection to those we have betrayed, we needn't worry so much about the good and the bad in us. But jealousy, distrust, cruelty, revenge, recrimination ... then we fail. The wrong is in that failure even if we are the victims and not the executioners. Virtue is no excuse.” [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Moral character is measured by how one treats loved ones and those one has wronged; failures like jealousy and revenge reveal deeper flaws. **In simple terms:** Virtue tested in relationships Key Takeaway Character shows in love and betrayal Themes morality relationships virtue human flaw Mood reflective serious Type philosophical moral When to use this quote - marital conflict - friendship fallout - family disputes Key Concepts charity affection jealousy revenge Practical Applications - ethical counseling - personal reflection Questions to Reflect On - What virtues sustain love amid betrayal? - Can jealousy ever be justified? A Different Perspective Some argue that external circumstances, not just personal virtues, shape moral outcomes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Affection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affection/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Charity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/charity/) [Cruelty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cruelty/) [Distrust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distrust/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [No excuses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/no-excuses/) [Revenge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revenge/) [Tests](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tests/) [Victim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/victim/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) [Worry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worry/) ## Related quotes > [As the end of the what is called the 'sexual life' the only love which has lasted is the love which has everything, every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/as-the-end-of-the-what-is-called-the-sexual-life-the-only-love-which/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Antidepressants sure kill your sexual life...Now, THAT'S depressing!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ozzy-osbourne/antidepressants-sure-kill-your-sexual-life-now-that-s-depressing/) [Ozzy Osbourne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ozzy-osbourne/) > [The sexuality doesn't end. It really doesn't. You're sexual your whole life, if you're a sexual person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/the-sexuality-doesn-t-end-it-really-doesn-t-you-re-sexual-your-whole/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [The loss of a sexual life is one of the worst things about getting really old. The worst thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-mcconnell/the-loss-of-a-sexual-life-is-one-of-the-worst-things-about-getting/) [Patricia McConnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-mcconnell/) > [“The Cretans’ more natural attitudes toward sex would also have had other consequences equally difficult to perceive under the prevailing paradigm, wherein religious dogma…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/riane-eisler/the-cretans-more-natural-attitudes-toward-sex-would-also-have-had/) [Riane Eisler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/riane-eisler/) > [Women at my age they are making love, they are feeling sensual, they flirt, they have boyfriends, they have a sexual life. They are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonia-braga/women-at-my-age-they-are-making-love-they-are-feeling-sensual-they/) [Sonia Braga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonia-braga/) > [“According to the prevailing view human sexual life consists essentially in an endeavor to bring one's own genitals into contact with those of someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/according-to-the-prevailing-view-human-sexual-life-consists/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [That's what I mean about Catholicism - your sexual life is supposed to be dead if you're a good Catholic. That's wrong. It's human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madonna-ciccone/that-s-what-i-mean-about-catholicism-your-sexual-life-is-supposed-to/) [Madonna Ciccone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madonna-ciccone/) > [Everyone is scared of having a free sexual life and what they do is go on the Internet and masturbate. This is the pure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivier-zahm/everyone-is-scared-of-having-a-free-sexual-life-and-what-they-do-is/) [Olivier Zahm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivier-zahm/) > [Sexual morality - as society in its extreme form, the American, defines it - is contemptible. I advocate an incomparably freer sexual life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/sexual-morality-as-society-in-its-extreme-form-the-american-defines/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [A trait which differentiated New York from European cities was the incredible freedom and ease in which life, including sexual life, could be carried…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerzy-kosi-ski/a-trait-which-differentiated-new-york-from-european-cities-was-the/) [Jerzy Kosinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerzy-kosi-ski/) > [I actually have more respect for people who are in the closet. You end up exposing so much of yourself because you have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-harrison/i-actually-have-more-respect-for-people-who-are-in-the-closet-you-end/) [Randy Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-harrison/) > [“But there is nothing men lie about so much as about their sexual life,...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/but-there-is-nothing-men-lie-about-so-much-as-about-their-sexual-life/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [We know less about the sexual life of little girls than of boys. But we need not feel ashamed of this distinction; after all,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/we-know-less-about-the-sexual-life-of-little-girls-than-of-boys-but/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [Do you not know how uncontrolled and unreliable the average human being is in all that concerns sexual life?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/do-you-not-know-how-uncontrolled-and-unreliable-the-average-human/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) ## More by Graham Greene > [“Time gives poetry to a battlefield...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/time-gives-poetry-to-a-battlefield/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“What is cowardice in the young is wisdom in the old, but all the same one can be ashamed of wisdom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/what-is-cowardice-in-the-young-is-wisdom-in-the-old-but-all-the-same/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Pity is cruel. 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Damn me, I deserve it, but let her live forever.’ This was the love he should have felt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/he-said-oh-god-help-her-damn-me-i-deserve-it-but-let-her-live-forever/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“A police photograph is like a passport photograph: the intelligence which casts a veil over the crude common shape is never recorded by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/a-police-photograph-is-like-a-passport-photograph-the-intelligence/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [ “I tossed up whether I'd see \[the critic\] or not: I knew too well the pompous phrases of his article, the buried significance he… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/i-tossed-up-whether-i-d-see-the-critic-or-not-i-knew-too-well-the/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Success is more dangerous than failure, the ripples break over a wider coastline.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/success-is-more-dangerous-than-failure-the-ripples-break-over-a-wider/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“But we do not love people for what they do for us. Love happens to us; it isn't created.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/but-we-do-not-love-people-for-what-they-do-for-us-love-happens-to-us/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) [Explore all 550 Graham Greene quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) ## More Affection quotes > [My team and I have reunited two elements that coexist with diffiulty: respect and affection, because when they love you they don't respect you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shakira/my-team-and-i-have-reunited-two-elements-that-coexist-with-diffiulty/) [Shakira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shakira/) > [Needs cause motivation. 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Deny it who will, ridicule it, treat it as mere imagination and sentiment, the thing is and will be; and women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinah-maria-murlock-craik/a-lost-love-deny-it-who-will-ridicule-it-treat-it-as-mere-imagination/) [Dinah Maria Murlock Craik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinah-maria-murlock-craik/) > [Affection! Affection is false.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-i/affection-affection-is-false/) [Elizabeth I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-i/) > [We are a spectacular, splendid manifestation of life. We have language. . . . We have affection. We have genes for usefulness, and usefulness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-are-a-spectacular-splendid-manifestation-of-life-we-have-language/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [Listen, I have a great affection and respect for Joe Biden. I think he's been a great vice president. He's taken on a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-axelrod/listen-i-have-a-great-affection-and-respect-for-joe-biden-i-think-he/) [David Axelrod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-axelrod/) > [The still affection of the heart Became an outward breathing type, That into stillness past again, And left a want unknown before; Although the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-lord-tennyson/the-still-affection-of-the-heart-became-an-outward-breathing-type/) [Alfred Lord Tennyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-lord-tennyson/) > [I am persuaded that there is no affection of the human heart more exquisitely pure, than that which is felt by a grateful son…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-more/i-am-persuaded-that-there-is-no-affection-of-the-human-heart-more/) [Hannah More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-more/) > [If you live in a material universe where acquiring things is very important to you, then family is an absolute deterrent to maintaining that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/if-you-live-in-a-material-universe-where-acquiring-things-is-very/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [Our sweetest experiences of affection are meant to be suggestions of that realm which is the home of the heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/our-sweetest-experiences-of-affection-are-meant-to-be-suggestions-of/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [“Georgia O’Keeffe moved to rural New Mexico, from which she would sign her letters to the people she loved, “from the faraway nearby.” It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/georgia-o-keeffe-moved-to-rural-new-mexico-from-which-she-would-sign/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) [Browse all 2,465 Affection quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affection/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Perhaps the sexual life is the great test. 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