--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In those days I had various strong…" description: "\"In those days I had various strong inclinations, for wine, gambling and cockfighting, and the society of gypsies, together with a passion for theologic..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/812/isak-dinesen-3174_discussion_in-those-days-i-had-various-strong-incli_2720472.jpg" --- # In those days I had various strong inclinations, for wine… ![“In those days I had various strong inclinations, for wine, gambling and cockfighting, and the society of gypsies, together with a passion for theological discussion which I had inherited from my father himself-all of which my father thought I had better rid myself of before I married.” quote by Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/812/isak-dinesen-3174_discussion_in-those-days-i-had-various-strong-incli_2720472.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/812/isak-dinesen-3174_discussion_in-those-days-i-had-various-strong-incli_2720472.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/812/isak-dinesen-3174_discussion_in-those-days-i-had-various-strong-incli_2720472.jpg) > “In those days I had various strong inclinations, for wine, gambling and cockfighting, and the society of gypsies, together with a passion for theological discussion which I had inherited from my father himself-all of which my father thought I had better rid myself of before I married.” [Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator reflects on youthful vices and inherited theological interests, urging self‑discipline before marriage. **In simple terms:** Youthful habits clash with inherited values. Key Takeaway Balance passions with responsibility. Themes self‑control heritage growth Mood reflective introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - marriage - personal development - family expectations Key Concepts psychology morality Questions to Reflect On - Which inherited traits shape you? - How do you reconcile past vices with present goals? A Different Perspective Old habits are hard to break. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Father](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/father/) [Gambling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gambling/) [Gypsy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gypsy/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Passion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passion/) [Wine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wine/) ## Related quotes > [I have inherited my father's sense of humour about myself. It's a lot more pleasant to make fun of yourself than when someone else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-sondheim/i-have-inherited-my-father-s-sense-of-humour-about-myself-it-s-a-lot/) [Stephen Sondheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-sondheim/) > [It's not only what we have inherited from our father and mother that walks in us. It's all sorts of dead ideas, and lifeless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-s-not-only-what-we-have-inherited-from-our-father-and-mother-that/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [My father had his own business, a clothing store, which he inherited from his father. He travelled abroad frequently and was quite extravagant, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/britt-ekland/my-father-had-his-own-business-a-clothing-store-which-he-inherited/) [Britt Ekland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/britt-ekland/) > [“Flora inherited, however, from her father a strong will and from her mother a slender ankle.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stella-gibbons/flora-inherited-however-from-her-father-a-strong-will-and-from-her/) [Stella Gibbons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stella-gibbons/) > [I inherited my father's insatiable desire to meet all the beautiful girls in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-kiedis/i-inherited-my-father-s-insatiable-desire-to-meet-all-the-beautiful/) [Anthony Kiedis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-kiedis/) > [“Marie eventually inherited this collection, just as she inherited her father’s acuity for what he called “reading nature.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hali-felt/marie-eventually-inherited-this-collection-just-as-she-inherited-her/) Hali Felt > [I had inherited what my father called the art of the advocate, or the irritating habit of looking for the flaw in any argument.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mortimer/i-had-inherited-what-my-father-called-the-art-of-the-advocate-or-the/) [John Mortimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mortimer/) > [“The six Winston boys had inherited their father’s ability to charm snakes, the IRS, and women.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penny-reid/the-six-winston-boys-had-inherited-their-father-s-ability-to-charm/) [Penny Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penny-reid/) > [ “He \[Jesus\] had a terrible temper, you know, undoubtedly inherited from His Father.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robertson-davies/he-jesus-had-a-terrible-temper-you-know-undoubtedly-inherited-from/) [Robertson Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robertson-davies/) > [What I have inherited from my father is my passion for my work which is my music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tulsi-kumar/what-i-have-inherited-from-my-father-is-my-passion-for-my-work-which/) [Tulsi Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tulsi-kumar/) > [I liked the idea of being from 'somewhere else.' I do think that's inherited. My father never had a fixed sense of where home…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-messud/i-liked-the-idea-of-being-from-somewhere-else-i-do-think-that-s/) [Claire Messud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-messud/) > [“he six Winston boys had inherited their father’s ability to charm snakes, the IRS, and women.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penny-reid/he-six-winston-boys-had-inherited-their-father-s-ability-to-charm/) [Penny Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penny-reid/) > [“Thomas had inherited his father’s reason without his ruthlessness and his mother’s love of good without her tendency to pursue it. His plan for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/thomas-had-inherited-his-father-s-reason-without-his-ruthlessness-and/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [I have inherited my father's thick skin, which helps me deal with trolls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ananya-panday/i-have-inherited-my-father-s-thick-skin-which-helps-me-deal-with/) [Ananya Panday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ananya-panday/) > [Nobody talks more of free enterprise and competition and of the best man winning than the man who inherited his father's store or farm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-wright-mills/nobody-talks-more-of-free-enterprise-and-competition-and-of-the-best/) [C. Wright Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-wright-mills/) ## More by Isak Dinesen > [The divine art is the story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/the-divine-art-is-the-story/) [Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) > [Your own self, your personality and existence are reflected within the mind of each of the people whom you meet, ... into a likeness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/your-own-self-your-personality-and-existence-are-reflected-within-the/) [Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) > [A great artist is never poor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/a-great-artist-is-never-poor/) [Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) > [To be a person is to have a story to tell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/to-be-a-person-is-to-have-a-story-to-tell/) [Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) > [One does not travel by plane. One is merely sent, like a parcel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/one-does-not-travel-by-plane-one-is-merely-sent-like-a-parcel/) [Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) > [When we are young the idea of death or failure is intolerable to us; even the possibility of ridicule we cannot bear. But we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/when-we-are-young-the-idea-of-death-or-failure-is-intolerable-to-us/) [Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) > [Here and there, in some older houses, old faded daguerreotypes still hang on the walls... They seem to us to be very simple... compared…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/here-and-there-in-some-older-houses-old-faded-daguerreotypes-still/) [Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) > [“It is more than their land that you take away from the people, whose Native land you take. It is their past as well,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/it-is-more-than-their-land-that-you-take-away-from-the-people-whose/) [Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) > [There was a place in the Hills, on the first ridge in the Game Reserve, that I myself at the time when I thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/there-was-a-place-in-the-hills-on-the-first-ridge-in-the-game-reserve/) [Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) > [If I know a song of Africa, of the giraffe and the African new moon lying on her back, of the plows in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/if-i-know-a-song-of-africa-of-the-giraffe-and-the-african-new-moon/) [Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) > [People who dream when they sleep at night know of a special kind of happiness which the world of the day holds not, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/people-who-dream-when-they-sleep-at-night-know-of-a-special-kind-of/) [Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) > [All sorrows can be borne if you can put them into a story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/all-sorrows-can-be-borne-if-you-can-put-them-into-a-story/) [Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) > [the true art of the gods is the comic. The comic is a condescension of the divine to the world of man; it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/the-true-art-of-the-gods-is-the-comic-the-comic-is-a-condescension-of/) [Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) > [“Dr Sass…maintained that in paradise, until the time of the fall, the whole world was flat, the back-curtain of the Lord, and that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/dr-sass-maintained-that-in-paradise-until-the-time-of-the-fall-the/) [Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) > [When you have a great and difficult task, something perhaps almost impossible, if you only work a little at a time, every day a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/when-you-have-a-great-and-difficult-task-something-perhaps-almost/) [Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) [Explore all 135 Isak Dinesen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) ## More Discussion quotes > [There's always that discussion about fiction about how do you market it - these are books for boys, these are books for girls, these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-a-weatherly/there-s-always-that-discussion-about-fiction-about-how-do-you-market/) [L.A. Weatherly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-a-weatherly/) > [To prevent discussion of any other explanations of human origins is hardly what I would expect from open-minded educators.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-campolo/to-prevent-discussion-of-any-other-explanations-of-human-origins-is/) [Tony Campolo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-campolo/) > [The "family" has clearly emerged anew in the late 1970s as a central subject for discussion, debate, research and writing in bothscholarly and popular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-kamerman/the-family-has-clearly-emerged-anew-in-the-late-1970s-as-a-central/) Sheila Kamerman > [There's an interesting book about that called The Third Reich and the Ivory Tower, written by Stephen H. Norwood. It has a long discussion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/there-s-an-interesting-book-about-that-called-the-third-reich-and-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [ \[Kathleen Blackshear\] just said, "Have you thought of looking at this?" and so on and so on and so on. And it was a… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-mackenzie/kathleen-blackshear-just-said-have-you-thought-of-looking-at-this-and/) [Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-mackenzie/) > [There needs to be some regime that is overseeing access to broadband to make sure we have openess; otherwise, there is a risk it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vint-cerf/there-needs-to-be-some-regime-that-is-overseeing-access-to-broadband/) [Vint Cerf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vint-cerf/) > [There are two famous labyrinths where our reason very often goes astray. One concerns the great question of the free and the necessary, above…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/there-are-two-famous-labyrinths-where-our-reason-very-often-goes/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [ \[James\] Madison pointed out in the discussion of the constitutional debates - the constitutional convention - that democracy would be a danger. He used… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/james-madison-pointed-out-in-the-discussion-of-the-constitutional/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [As a leader... I have always endeavored to listen to what each and every person in a discussion had to say before venturing my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-mandela/as-a-leader-i-have-always-endeavored-to-listen-to-what-each-and-every/) [Nelson Mandela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-mandela/) > [Police in China can do whatever they want; after 81 days in arbitrary detention you clearly realise that they don't have to obey their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-weiwei/police-in-china-can-do-whatever-they-want-after-81-days-in-arbitrary/) [Ai Weiwei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-weiwei/) > [There is no discussion inside this boardroom to say we've got to get into this or that. We look at every growth opportunity on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-packer/there-is-no-discussion-inside-this-boardroom-to-say-we-ve-got-to-get/) [James Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-packer/) > [I am devoting my lecture in this seminar to a discussion of the possibility that we are now entering a Jewish century, a time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-a-siegel/i-am-devoting-my-lecture-in-this-seminar-to-a-discussion-of-the/) Martin A. Siegel > [In a meat-eating world, wearing leather for shoes and clothes and even handbags, the discussion of fur is childish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-lagerfeld/in-a-meat-eating-world-wearing-leather-for-shoes-and-clothes-and-even/) [Karl Lagerfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-lagerfeld/) > [In the late 1950s a major topic under discussion was whether Canada should acquire nuclear weapons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-charles-polanyi/in-the-late-1950s-a-major-topic-under-discussion-was-whether-canada/) [John Charles Polanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-charles-polanyi/) > [Every discussion of the status of woman is complicated by the existence of the lady. She overshadows the rest of her sex.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-james-smith-putnam/every-discussion-of-the-status-of-woman-is-complicated-by-the/) [Emily James Smith Putnam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-james-smith-putnam/) Browse all 1,504 Discussion quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In those days I had various strong inclinations, for wine, gambling and cockfighting, and the society of gypsies, together with a passion for theological discussion which I had inherited from my father himself-all of which my father thought I had better rid myself of before I married.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Isak Dinesen" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/in-those-days-i-had-various-strong-inclinations-for-wine-gambling-and/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Discussion" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/in-those-days-i-had-various-strong-inclinations-for-wine-gambling-and/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/812/isak-dinesen-3174_discussion_in-those-days-i-had-various-strong-incli_2720472.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/812/isak-dinesen-3174_discussion_in-those-days-i-had-various-strong-incli_2720472.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/812/isak-dinesen-3174_discussion_in-those-days-i-had-various-strong-incli_2720472.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In those days I had various strong inclinations, for wine, gambling and cockfighting, and the society of…” — Isak Dinesen", "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": "Isak Dinesen", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "In those days I had various...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/in-those-days-i-had-various-strong-inclinations-for-wine-gambling-and/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/in-those-days-i-had-various-strong-inclinations-for-wine-gambling-and/#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 } } ] } ```