--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Sex ages us. Priests are boyish…" description: "\"Sex ages us. Priests are boyish, spinsters stay black-haired until after fifty. We others, the demon rots us out.\" — John Updike" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8dc/john-updike-396_age_sex-ages-us-priests-are-boyish-spinsters_321552.png" --- # Sex ages us. Priests are boyish, spinsters stay… ![“Sex ages us. Priests are boyish, spinsters stay black-haired until after fifty. We others, the demon rots us out.” quote by John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8dc/john-updike-396_age_sex-ages-us-priests-are-boyish-spinsters_321552.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8dc/john-updike-396_age_sex-ages-us-priests-are-boyish-spinsters_321552.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8dc/john-updike-396_age_sex-ages-us-priests-are-boyish-spinsters_321552.png) > “Sex ages us. Priests are boyish, spinsters stay black-haired until after fifty. We others, the demon rots us out.” [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) ## 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 uses vivid, metaphorical language to comment on aging, sexuality, and societal expectations. **In simple terms:** Aging and desire are portrayed with stark, symbolic imagery. Key Takeaway Consider how societal norms shape personal identity. Themes aging sexuality societal norms identity Mood critical reflective Type literary social commentary When to use this quote - personal relationships - healthcare discussions - creative writing - counseling - media analysis Key Concepts literature metaphor social critique Questions to Reflect On - What stereotypes does this language reinforce? - How can we discuss aging without caricature? A Different Perspective The metaphor may be overly sensational, limiting nuanced understanding. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) [Ages Priests](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ages-priests-3029373/) [Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black/) [Boyish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boyish/) [Demon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/demon/) [Demon Rots](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/demon-rots-3029374/) [Fifty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fifty/) [Priests](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/priests/) [Priests Boyish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/priests-boyish-3029375/) [Sex](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sex/) [Sex Ages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sex-ages-1262986/) [Sexuality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sexuality/) [Spinsters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spinsters/) ## Related quotes > [But women, you get hornier as you get older. It's weird, you wanna do all your sex in between the ages of 30 and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrice-o-neal/but-women-you-get-hornier-as-you-get-older-it-s-weird-you-wanna-do/) [Patrice O'Neal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrice-o-neal/) > [I arrived at school pensive, introverted, and not very sporty, so magic became a place of mystery and intrigue, an escape for my boyish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drummond-money-coutts/i-arrived-at-school-pensive-introverted-and-not-very-sporty-so-magic/) [Drummond Money-Coutts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drummond-money-coutts/) > [I'm very moody, so I dress for whatever mood I'm in. Sometimes I want to be a little more boyish and flowy and comfortable.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/banks/i-m-very-moody-so-i-dress-for-whatever-mood-i-m-in-sometimes-i-want/) [Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/banks/) > [“...oh that short hair, a la garcon that evokes unfamiliar, boyish kinds of sex.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alaa-al-aswany/oh-that-short-hair-a-la-garcon-that-evokes-unfamiliar-boyish-kinds-of/) [Alaa Al Aswany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alaa-al-aswany/) > [War is a survival among us from savage times and affects now chiefly the boyish and unthinking element of the nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percival-lowell/war-is-a-survival-among-us-from-savage-times-and-affects-now-chiefly/) [Percival Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percival-lowell/) > [You get tough when you grow up unloved. People described me as a boyish girl - rather shy, but I didn't show it. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maj-sjowall/you-get-tough-when-you-grow-up-unloved-people-described-me-as-a/) [Maj Sjowall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maj-sjowall/) > [One of the things that make Liars so fascinating after five albums, each one so completely different from the others, is that even though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-sheffield/one-of-the-things-that-make-liars-so-fascinating-after-five-albums/) [Rob Sheffield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-sheffield/) > [All wars are boyish, and are fought by boys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/all-wars-are-boyish-and-are-fought-by-boys/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [Most women in leading roles are very boyish looking. 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Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) ## More by John Updike > [Life is a roller coaster, you have your ups and downs unless you fall off.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/life-is-a-roller-coaster-you-have-your-ups-and-downs-unless-you-fall/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [Children are not a zoo of entertainingly exotic creatures, but an array of mirrors in which the human predicament leaps out at us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/children-are-not-a-zoo-of-entertainingly-exotic-creatures-but-an/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [I assume my stance, and take back the club, low, slowly; at the top, my eyes fog over, and my joints dip and swirl…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/i-assume-my-stance-and-take-back-the-club-low-slowly-at-the-top-my/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [The New England spirit does not seek solutions in a crowd; raw light and solitariness are less dreaded than welcomed as enhancers of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/the-new-england-spirit-does-not-seek-solutions-in-a-crowd-raw-light/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [I imagine most of that stuff on the information highway is roadkill anyway.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/i-imagine-most-of-that-stuff-on-the-information-highway-is-roadkill/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [Families, doing everything for each other out of imagined obligation and always getting in each other's way, what a tangle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/families-doing-everything-for-each-other-out-of-imagined-obligation/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [“The fucking world is running out of gas.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/the-fucking-world-is-running-out-of-gas/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [The theme of old age doesn't seem to fascinate Hollywood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/the-theme-of-old-age-doesn-t-seem-to-fascinate-hollywood/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [“The mind cannot fall asleep as long as it watches itself. 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