--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Men can return to where they have done…" description: "\"“Men can return to where they have done evil deeds, but men do not return to where they’ve been abased. On this point God’s design and our own feeling ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/648/joseph-brodsky-1225_abasement_men-can-return-to-where-they-have-done-e_1601741.jpg" --- # Men can return to where they have done evil deeds, but men… ![“Men can return to where they have done evil deeds, but men do not return to where they’ve been abased. On this point God’s design and our own feeling of abasement coincide so absolutely that we quit: the night, the rotting beast, the exultant mobs, our homes, our hearthfires, Bacchus in a vacant…” quote by Joseph Brodsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/648/joseph-brodsky-1225_abasement_men-can-return-to-where-they-have-done-e_1601741.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/648/joseph-brodsky-1225_abasement_men-can-return-to-where-they-have-done-e_1601741.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/648/joseph-brodsky-1225_abasement_men-can-return-to-where-they-have-done-e_1601741.jpg) > ““Men can return to where they have done evil deeds, but men do not return to where they’ve been abased. On this point God’s design and our own feeling of abasement coincide so absolutely that we quit: the night, the rotting beast, the exultant mobs, our homes, our hearthfires, Bacchus in a vacant lot embracing Ariadne in the dark.”” [Joseph Brodsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-brodsky/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote reflects on humanity’s tendency to repeat wrongdoing but avoid confronting humiliation, suggesting a deep, almost divine alignment of shame and avoidance that drives us away from both physical and moral decay. **In simple terms:** People repeat sins but avoid humiliation, feeling shame that pushes them away from decay. Key Takeaway Recognize and confront shame to break cycles of avoidance. Themes shame repetition morality avoidance human nature Mood melancholic reflective serious Type poetic philosophical critical When to use this quote - personal reflection - social critique - spiritual contemplation Key Concepts existentialism psychology ethics Questions to Reflect On - What does shame prevent you from doing? - How can facing humiliation foster personal growth? A Different Perspective Avoidance can lead to stagnation and loss of growth opportunities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abasement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abasement/) [Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) [Evil Deeds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil-deeds/) [Men Return](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men-return-2444245/) [Return Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/return-evil-1891986/) [Shame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shame/) ## Related quotes > [“Some men return to their past, so that new forces may arise for the reconquest.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vd/some-men-return-to-their-past-so-that-new-forces-may-arise-for-the/) [VD](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vd/) > [“Every one of our sons leaves home at some point. They become men who can return to help us mothers in ways that no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-meeker-md/every-one-of-our-sons-leaves-home-at-some-point-they-become-men-who/) [Meg Meeker Md](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-meeker-md/) > [“As dogs return to their vomit, some men return to their wives.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-liccione/as-dogs-return-to-their-vomit-some-men-return-to-their-wives/) [Anthony Liccione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-liccione/) > [They sent forth men to battle, But no such men return; And home, to claim their welcome, Come ashes in an urn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/they-sent-forth-men-to-battle-but-no-such-men-return-and-home-to/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [To the Bible men will return; and why? Because they cannot do without it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/to-the-bible-men-will-return-and-why-because-they-cannot-do-without-it/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [“The law of God is not to return evil for evil; indeed, if you try in this way to stamp out wickedness it will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/the-law-of-god-is-not-to-return-evil-for-evil-indeed-if-you-try-in/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [In vain produced, all rays return; Evil will bless, and ice will burn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/in-vain-produced-all-rays-return-evil-will-bless-and-ice-will-burn/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [It is not noble to return evil for evil, at no time ought we to do an injury to our neighbors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/it-is-not-noble-to-return-evil-for-evil-at-no-time-ought-we-to-do-an/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [Return good for good; return evil with justice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/return-good-for-good-return-evil-with-justice/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [Love overlooks a person’s faults. That’s not always easy, but love believes the best in every person. Anybody can return evil for evil, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-osteen/love-overlooks-a-person-s-faults-that-s-not-always-easy-but-love/) [Joel Osteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-osteen/) > [You must recognize that the way to get the good out of your brother and your sister is not to return evil for evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-farrakhan/you-must-recognize-that-the-way-to-get-the-good-out-of-your-brother/) [Louis Farrakhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-farrakhan/) > [Those who return evil for good should not expect the kindness of others to last long.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/those-who-return-evil-for-good-should-not-expect-the-kindness-of/) [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) > [Do not return evil for evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shri-radhe-maa/do-not-return-evil-for-evil/) [Shri Radhe Maa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shri-radhe-maa/) > [Men regard it as their right to return evil for evil and, if they cannot, feel they have lost their liberty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/men-regard-it-as-their-right-to-return-evil-for-evil-and-if-they/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Our Soul is a spark of the Divine. It is pure and perfect. Evil deeds merely obstruct our vision of the true nature of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/our-soul-is-a-spark-of-the-divine-it-is-pure-and-perfect-evil-deeds/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) ## More by Joseph Brodsky > [As long as the state permits itself to interfere in the affairs of literature, literature has the right to interfere with the affairs of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-brodsky/as-long-as-the-state-permits-itself-to-interfere-in-the-affairs-of/) [Joseph Brodsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-brodsky/) > [For some odd reason, the expression 'death of a poet' always sounds somewhat more concrete than 'life of a poet.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-brodsky/for-some-odd-reason-the-expression-death-of-a-poet-always-sounds/) [Joseph Brodsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-brodsky/) > [A poet is a combination of an instrument and a human being in one person, with the former gradually taking over the latter. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-brodsky/a-poet-is-a-combination-of-an-instrument-and-a-human-being-in-one/) [Joseph Brodsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-brodsky/) > [On the whole, love comes with the speed of light; separation, with that of sound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-brodsky/on-the-whole-love-comes-with-the-speed-of-light-separation-with-that/) [Joseph Brodsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-brodsky/) > [“In the business of writing, what one accumulates is not experience but uncertainties.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-brodsky/in-the-business-of-writing-what-one-accumulates-is-not-experience-but/) [Joseph Brodsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-brodsky/) > [I haven't shifted language. I'm writing in English because I like it. I'm a sucker for the language, but the good old poems I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-brodsky/i-haven-t-shifted-language-i-m-writing-in-english-because-i-like-it-i/) [Joseph Brodsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-brodsky/) > [Perhaps the best proof of the Almighty's existence is that we never know when we are to die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-brodsky/perhaps-the-best-proof-of-the-almighty-s-existence-is-that-we-never/) [Joseph Brodsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-brodsky/) > [I grew up in the sort of cultural milieu that always regarded conversations about the political discourse as tremendously low-brow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-brodsky/i-grew-up-in-the-sort-of-cultural-milieu-that-always-regarded/) [Joseph Brodsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-brodsky/) > [“What gets left of a man amounts to a part. To his spoken part. To a part of speech”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-brodsky/what-gets-left-of-a-man-amounts-to-a-part-to-his-spoken-part-to-a/) [Joseph Brodsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-brodsky/) > [“secrecy is a hotbed of vanity”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-brodsky/secrecy-is-a-hotbed-of-vanity/) [Joseph Brodsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-brodsky/) > [“The instinctive preference was to read rather than to act. No wonder our actual lives were more or less a shambles”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-brodsky/the-instinctive-preference-was-to-read-rather-than-to-act-no-wonder/) [Joseph Brodsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-brodsky/) > [Americans have been tremendously fortunate in poetry, regarding both the quantity and quality of poetry produced. Unfortunately, it remains in schools and universities; it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-brodsky/americans-have-been-tremendously-fortunate-in-poetry-regarding-both/) [Joseph Brodsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-brodsky/) > [Life—the way it really is—is a battle not between good and bad, but between bad and worse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-brodsky/life-the-way-it-really-is-is-a-battle-not-between-good-and-bad-but/) [Joseph Brodsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-brodsky/) > [Poems, novels - these things belong to the nation, to the culture, and the people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-brodsky/poems-novels-these-things-belong-to-the-nation-to-the-culture-and-the/) [Joseph Brodsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-brodsky/) > [“If there is any substitute for love, it is memory.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-brodsky/if-there-is-any-substitute-for-love-it-is-memory/) [Joseph Brodsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-brodsky/) [Explore all 264 Joseph Brodsky quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-brodsky/) ## More Abasement quotes > [Unless a man gives himself entirely to the Cross, in a spirit of humility and self-abasement; unless he casts himself down to be trampled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-the-evangelist/unless-a-man-gives-himself-entirely-to-the-cross-in-a-spirit-of/) [Mark the Evangelist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-the-evangelist/) > [There was no mistaking her sincerity--it breathed in every tone of her voice. Both Marilla and Mrs. Lynde recognized its unmistakable ring. But the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-was-no-mistaking-her-sincerity-it-breathed-in-every-tone-of-her/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The social principles of Christianity preach cowardice, self-contempt, abasement, submission, humility, in a word all the qualities of the canaille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/the-social-principles-of-christianity-preach-cowardice-self-contempt/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [There exists, at the bottom of all abasement and misfortune, a last extreme which rebels and joins battle with the forces of law and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/there-exists-at-the-bottom-of-all-abasement-and-misfortune-a-last/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [There are times when I, without willing it, mount to the height of contemplation; with my will I am drawn down from it because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/symeon-the-new-theologian/there-are-times-when-i-without-willing-it-mount-to-the-height-of/) [Symeon the New Theologian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/symeon-the-new-theologian/) > [Should prosperity befall thee, rejoice not, and should abasement come upon thee, grieve not, for both shall pass away and be no more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baha-u-llah/should-prosperity-befall-thee-rejoice-not-and-should-abasement-come/) [Bahá'u'lláh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baha-u-llah/) > [I have grown weary of literature: silence alone comforts me. If I continue to write, it’s because I have nothing more to accomplish in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarice-lispector/i-have-grown-weary-of-literature-silence-alone-comforts-me-if-i/) [Clarice Lispector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarice-lispector/) > [... We in the USA have been depending on prayers, pleading, and self-abasement to a deity to bring us magical advantages, and have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-randi/we-in-the-usa-have-been-depending-on-prayers-pleading-and-self/) [James Randi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-randi/) > [Tis immortality, 'tis that alone, Amid life's pains, abasements, emptiness, The soul can comfort, elevate, and fill. That only, and that amply this performs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-young/tis-immortality-tis-that-alone-amid-life-s-pains-abasements-emptiness/) [Edward Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-young/) > [Pride is a terrible and dangerous thing. It can take so many forms; it can even assume the appearance of humility. Pride can lead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-washer/pride-is-a-terrible-and-dangerous-thing-it-can-take-so-many-forms-it/) [Paul Washer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-washer/) > [It belongs to small-mindedness to be unable to bear either honor or dishonor, either good fortune or bad, but to be filled with conceit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/it-belongs-to-small-mindedness-to-be-unable-to-bear-either-honor-or/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Abasement, degradation is simply the manner of life of the man who has refused to be what it is his duty to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/abasement-degradation-is-simply-the-manner-of-life-of-the-man-who-has/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [Humility is just as much the opposite of self-abasement as it is of self-exaltation. To be humble is not to make comparisons. Secure in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dag-hammarskj-ld/humility-is-just-as-much-the-opposite-of-self-abasement-as-it-is-of/) [Dag Hammarskjold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dag-hammarskj-ld/) > [Independence is the recognition of the fact that yours is the responsibility of judgment and nothing can help you escape it-that no substitute can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/independence-is-the-recognition-of-the-fact-that-yours-is-the/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [But self-abasement is just inverted egoism. Anyone who acts with genuine humility will be as far from humiliation as from arrogance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-mitchell/but-self-abasement-is-just-inverted-egoism-anyone-who-acts-with/) [Stephen Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-mitchell/) [Browse all 24 Abasement quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abasement/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Men can return to where they have done evil deeds, but men do not return to where they’ve been abased. 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