--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Your short understanding, your clipped…" description: "\"“Your short understanding, your clipped mind, your hollow heart, will make more of mankind than it has the power to become. Make of a man what you will..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/533/johannes-von-saaz-53216_beauty_your-short-understanding-your-clipped-mi_1685942.jpg" --- # Your short understanding, your clipped mind, your hollow… ![“Your short understanding, your clipped mind, your hollow heart, will make more of mankind than it has the power to become. Make of a man what you will, yet he cannot be more than this I say to you, with the leave of all pure women: a human is conceived in sin, nourished with impure, unspeakable…” quote by Johannes von Saaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/533/johannes-von-saaz-53216_beauty_your-short-understanding-your-clipped-mi_1685942.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/533/johannes-von-saaz-53216_beauty_your-short-understanding-your-clipped-mi_1685942.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/533/johannes-von-saaz-53216_beauty_your-short-understanding-your-clipped-mi_1685942.jpg) > ““Your short understanding, your clipped mind, your hollow heart, will make more of mankind than it has the power to become. Make of a man what you will, yet he cannot be more than this I say to you, with the leave of all pure women: a human is conceived in sin, nourished with impure, unspeakable feculence in the maternal body, born naked and smeared like a beehive; a mass of refuse, a churn of filth, a dish for worms, a stinkhouse, a repulsive washtub, a rancid carcass, a mildewed crate, a bottomless sack, a perforated pocket, a bellows, a rapacious maw, a reeking flagon of urine, a malodorous pail, a deceptive marionette-show, a loamy robber’s den, an insatiably slaking trough, a painted delusion. Let recognise who will: every human created to completion has nine holes in his body; out of all these there flows such repellent filth that nothing could be more impure. You would never see human beauty, if you had the eyes of a lynx, and your gaze could penetrate to the innards; you would shudder at the sight. Strip the dressmaker’s colouring from the loveliest of ladies, and you will see a shameful puppet, a hastily withering flower, a sparkle of little durance and a soon decomposing clod of earth! Show me a handful of beauty of all the belles who lived a hundred years ago, excluding those painted on the wall, and you shall have the Kaiser’s crown! Let love flow away, let grief flow away! Let the Rhine run its course like other waters, you wise lad from Assville!”” [Johannes von Saaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johannes-von-saaz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage depicts humanity as fundamentally corrupt and impure, suggesting that physical and moral filth dominate existence, and that true beauty is obscured by this inherent squalor. **In simple terms:** Humanity is portrayed as deeply impure and ugly. Key Takeaway Recognize and accept human imperfection. Themes corruption human nature beauty mortality Mood somber critical Type philosophical literary critical When to use this quote - philosophical critique - literary analysis - psychological reflection Key Concepts existentialism nihilism body imagery Questions to Reflect On - What aspects of humanity can be considered beautiful despite flaws? - How does this view affect one's empathy toward others? A Different Perspective The extreme negativity may overlook human capacity for goodness and growth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) [Mankind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mankind/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Run Its Course](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/run-its-course/) ## Related quotes > [Man is conceived in sin and born in corruption and he passeth from the stink of the didie to the stench of the shroud.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-penn-warren/man-is-conceived-in-sin-and-born-in-corruption-and-he-passeth-from-2/) [Robert Penn Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-penn-warren/) > [What a burden to think one is conceived in sin rather than in pleasure; that one is born into evil rather than into joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/what-a-burden-to-think-one-is-conceived-in-sin-rather-than-in/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [“Man is conceived in sin and born in corruption and he passeth from the stink of the didie to the stench of the shroud.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-penn-warren/man-is-conceived-in-sin-and-born-in-corruption-and-he-passeth-from/) [Robert Penn Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-penn-warren/) > [Others drink for sterility and commit murder on the human not yet sown. Some when they sense that they have conceived by sin, consider…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-jerome/others-drink-for-sterility-and-commit-murder-on-the-human-not-yet/) [St. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-jerome/) > [Be it or be it not true that Man is shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin, it is unquestionably true that Government is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/be-it-or-be-it-not-true-that-man-is-shapen-in-iniquity-and-conceived/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [Language is conceived in sin and science is its redemption.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/language-is-conceived-in-sin-and-science-is-its-redemption/) [Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/) > [“And he said, 'Man is conceived in sin and born in corruption and passeth from the stink of the didie to the stench of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-penn-warren/and-he-said-man-is-conceived-in-sin-and-born-in-corruption-and/) [Robert Penn Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-penn-warren/) > [“Larry sat with his arm stretched out along the top of the front seat. 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Man believes that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/in-the-beautiful-man-sets-himself-up-as-the-standard-of-perfection-in/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Beauty is not the goal of competitive sports, but high-level sports are a prime venue for the expression of human beauty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/beauty-is-not-the-goal-of-competitive-sports-but-high-level-sports-2/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [Oh, what a vileness human beauty is; corroding, corrupting everything it touches.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/euripides/oh-what-a-vileness-human-beauty-is-corroding-corrupting-everything-it/) [Euripides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/euripides/) > [“Beauty is not the goal of competitive sports, but high level sports are a prime venue for the expression of human beauty. The relation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/beauty-is-not-the-goal-of-competitive-sports-but-high-level-sports/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“« Previous \| 1 \| 2 \| Next » A great deal has been written about human beauty, and I shan’t be saying anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanka-gjuri/previous-1-2-next-a-great-deal-has-been-written-about-human-beauty/) [Stanka Gjurić](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanka-gjuri/) ## More by Johannes von Saaz > [“Senseless people name evil good, call good evil. As you are doing. You accuse Us of passing false judgement: you do Us injustice. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johannes-von-saaz/senseless-people-name-evil-good-call-good-evil-as-you-are-doing-you/) [Johannes von Saaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johannes-von-saaz/) > [“The more love that fell your way, the more sorrow will befall you; if you had abstained from love, you would now be relieved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johannes-von-saaz/the-more-love-that-fell-your-way-the-more-sorrow-will-befall-you-if/) [Johannes von Saaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johannes-von-saaz/) > [“You have both contested well: the one is forced by his sorrow to lament, the other by the plaintiff’s attack to tell the truth.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johannes-von-saaz/you-have-both-contested-well-the-one-is-forced-by-his-sorrow-to/) [Johannes Von Saaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johannes-von-saaz/) > [“The malefactor is you. 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Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-c-young/) > [There are various orders of beauty, causing men to make fools of themselves in various styles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/there-are-various-orders-of-beauty-causing-men-to-make-fools-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [To me, the beauty of a quilt or a dress lies within the stitches and the thought of the person who made them. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie/to-me-the-beauty-of-a-quilt-or-a-dress-lies-within-the-stitches-and/) [Natalie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie/) > [“do not misunderstand person by beauty You really do not know its real or Mask on dirty thoughts”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohammed-zaki-ansari/do-not-misunderstand-person-by-beauty-you-really-do-not-know-its-real/) [Mohammed Zaki Ansari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohammed-zaki-ansari/) > [“I already love in you your beauty, but I am only beginning to love in you that which is eternal and ever precious –…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/i-already-love-in-you-your-beauty-but-i-am-only-beginning-to-love-in/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [The more perfect the sight is the more delightful the beautiful object. The more perfect the appetite, the sweeter the food. 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Make of a man what you will, yet he cannot be more than this I say to you, with the leave of all pure women: a human is conceived in sin, nourished with impure, unspeakable feculence in the maternal body, born naked and smeared like a beehive; a mass of refuse, a churn of filth, a dish for worms, a stinkhouse, a repulsive washtub, a rancid carcass, a mildewed crate, a bottomless sack, a perforated pocket, a bellows, a rapacious maw, a reeking flagon of urine, a malodorous pail, a deceptive marionette-show, a loamy robber’s den, an insatiably slaking trough, a painted delusion. Let recognise who will: every human created to completion has nine holes in his body; out of all these there flows such repellent filth that nothing could be more impure. You would never see human beauty, if you had the eyes of a lynx, and your gaze could penetrate to the innards; you would shudder at the sight. 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