--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: [On masturbation:] I think that it is…" description: "\"[On masturbation:] I think that it is part of human sexuality, and perhaps it should be taught.\" — Joycelyn Elders" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/403/joycelyn-elders-12167_humans_on-masturbation-i-think-that-it-is-part_391361.png" --- # \[On masturbation:\] I think that it is part of human… ![“[On masturbation:] I think that it is part of human sexuality, and perhaps it should be taught.” quote by Joycelyn Elders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/403/joycelyn-elders-12167_humans_on-masturbation-i-think-that-it-is-part_391361.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/403/joycelyn-elders-12167_humans_on-masturbation-i-think-that-it-is-part_391361.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/403/joycelyn-elders-12167_humans_on-masturbation-i-think-that-it-is-part_391361.png) > “\[On masturbation:\] I think that it is part of human sexuality, and perhaps it should be taught.” [Joycelyn Elders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joycelyn-elders/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Open discussion about sexuality, including masturbation, promotes healthy understanding and education. **In simple terms:** Talk about sexuality openly. Key Takeaway Encourage sexual education. Themes sexual health education openness Mood informative cautious Type educational controversial When to use this quote - schools - parental guidance - health curricula - media discussions Key Concepts human sexuality public health Questions to Reflect On - How can educators address this topic sensitively? - What benefits arise from informed sexual health? A Different Perspective Cultural taboos may hinder acceptance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Masturbation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/masturbation/) [Sexuality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sexuality/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [Do you know what 'masturbation' is? I think you probably do because you are older than me. But just in case, I will tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-chbosky/do-you-know-what-masturbation-is-i-think-you-probably-do-because-you/) [Stephen Chbosky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-chbosky/) > [I do not need a man. I am devoted to masturbation. I think it's probably one of the most pleasurable experiences in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-stuart/i-do-not-need-a-man-i-am-devoted-to-masturbation-i-think-it-s/) [Gloria Stuart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-stuart/) > [I used to think masturbation was not really sex because it only involved me. That's a very limited view of human sexuality, and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betty-dodson/i-used-to-think-masturbation-was-not-really-sex-because-it-only/) [Betty Dodson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betty-dodson/) > [“Readers acquainted with the recent literature on human sexuality will be familiar with what we call the standard narrative of human sexual evolution, hereafter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cacilda-jeth/readers-acquainted-with-the-recent-literature-on-human-sexuality-will/) [Cacilda Jethá](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cacilda-jeth/) > [If you say children wouldn't know anything about masturbation on their own, you've never changed a little boy's diaper.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joycelyn-elders/if-you-say-children-wouldn-t-know-anything-about-masturbation-on/) [Joycelyn Elders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joycelyn-elders/) > [Masturbation never got anybody pregnant, does not make anybody go crazy, and what we're about is preventing HIV in our bright young people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joycelyn-elders/masturbation-never-got-anybody-pregnant-does-not-make-anybody-go/) [Joycelyn Elders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joycelyn-elders/) > [We know that more than seventy to eighty percent of women masturbate, and ninety percent of men masturbate, and the rest lie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joycelyn-elders/we-know-that-more-than-seventy-to-eighty-percent-of-women-masturbate/) [Joycelyn Elders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joycelyn-elders/) > [“Masturbation is not the happiest form of sexuality, but the most advisable for him who wants to be alone and think. I detect the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/masturbation-is-not-the-happiest-form-of-sexuality-but-the-most/) [Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/) > [I think our society is fragmented. Messages regarding human sexuality have always been mixed in America. We are a schizophrenic nation. We were founded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-hefner/i-think-our-society-is-fragmented-messages-regarding-human-sexuality/) [Hugh Hefner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-hefner/) > [There's an assault on human sexuality, as Judge Scalia said, they've taken sides in the culture war and on top of that if we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-robertson/there-s-an-assault-on-human-sexuality-as-judge-scalia-said-they-ve/) [Pat Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-robertson/) > [There are so many aspects of human sexuality that we're afraid to talk about, because people still don't understand it. It's not just black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sasha-grey/there-are-so-many-aspects-of-human-sexuality-that-we-re-afraid-to/) [Sasha Grey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sasha-grey/) > [“Dallas Willard notes, “The two main errors in the area of human sexuality are these: (1) assuming that all sexual desire is good, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-bryan-smith/dallas-willard-notes-the-two-main-errors-in-the-area-of-human/) [James Bryan Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-bryan-smith/) > [“... I was shock aplenty by what the internet reveals about human sexuality...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-stephens-davidowitz/i-was-shock-aplenty-by-what-the-internet-reveals-about-human-sexuality/) [Seth Stephens-Davidowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-stephens-davidowitz/) > [Human sexuality makes farcical our most serious intentions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/human-sexuality-makes-farcical-our-most-serious-intentions/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [I believe "human sexuality" is one of the most ridiculous aspects of being a human, and here I was, facing publications whose prevailing editorial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-goad/i-believe-human-sexuality-is-one-of-the-most-ridiculous-aspects-of/) [Jim Goad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-goad/) ## More by Joycelyn Elders > [The best contraceptive in the world is a good education.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joycelyn-elders/the-best-contraceptive-in-the-world-is-a-good-education/) [Joycelyn Elders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joycelyn-elders/) > [Once I had a professor say to me, "You know you have as much education as a lot of white people." I answered, "Doctor,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joycelyn-elders/once-i-had-a-professor-say-to-me-you-know-you-have-as-much-education/) [Joycelyn Elders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joycelyn-elders/) > [Handguns are a public health issue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joycelyn-elders/handguns-are-a-public-health-issue/) [Joycelyn Elders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joycelyn-elders/) > [I think we should have a very, very heavy tax on handguns and on bullets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joycelyn-elders/i-think-we-should-have-a-very-very-heavy-tax-on-handguns-and-on/) [Joycelyn Elders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joycelyn-elders/) > [“We have a multiheaded dragon in our midst that for too long has been waging a domestic war on our young, our poor, our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joycelyn-elders/we-have-a-multiheaded-dragon-in-our-midst-that-for-too-long-has-been/) [Joycelyn Elders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joycelyn-elders/) > [... black women have always found that in the social order of things we're the least likely to be believed--by anyone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joycelyn-elders/black-women-have-always-found-that-in-the-social-order-of-things-we/) [Joycelyn Elders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joycelyn-elders/) > [You can't keep an ignorant population healthy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joycelyn-elders/you-can-t-keep-an-ignorant-population-healthy/) [Joycelyn Elders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joycelyn-elders/) > [Everybody's got to die from somethin'.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joycelyn-elders/everybody-s-got-to-die-from-somethin/) [Joycelyn Elders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joycelyn-elders/) > [ \[We must\] deal with all of the contributing factors to gun violence as a whole, because it's like a leaky bucket - if you've… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joycelyn-elders/we-must-deal-with-all-of-the-contributing-factors-to-gun-violence-as/) [Joycelyn Elders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joycelyn-elders/) > [You can't educate people that are not healthy. But you certainly can't keep them healthy if they're not educated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joycelyn-elders/you-can-t-educate-people-that-are-not-healthy-but-you-certainly-can-t/) [Joycelyn Elders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joycelyn-elders/) > [As long as I was in Washington I never met anybody that I thought was good enough, who knew enough, or who loved enough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joycelyn-elders/as-long-as-i-was-in-washington-i-never-met-anybody-that-i-thought-was/) [Joycelyn Elders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joycelyn-elders/) > [I came there as prime steak and now I feel like low-grade hamburger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joycelyn-elders/i-came-there-as-prime-steak-and-now-i-feel-like-low-grade-hamburger/) [Joycelyn Elders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joycelyn-elders/) > [Health is more than the absence of disease. Health is about jobs and employment, education, the environment, and all of those things that go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joycelyn-elders/health-is-more-than-the-absence-of-disease-health-is-about-jobs-and/) [Joycelyn Elders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joycelyn-elders/) > [Health is more than absence of disease; it is about economics, education, environment, empowerment, and community. The health and well being of the people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joycelyn-elders/health-is-more-than-absence-of-disease-it-is-about-economics/) [Joycelyn Elders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joycelyn-elders/) > [You can't educate a child who isn't healthy, and you can't keep a child healthy who isn't educated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joycelyn-elders/you-can-t-educate-a-child-who-isn-t-healthy-and-you-can-t-keep-a/) [Joycelyn Elders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joycelyn-elders/) [Explore all 56 Joycelyn Elders quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joycelyn-elders/) ## More Humans quotes > [Entertainment is a sacred pursuit when done well. When done well, it raises the quality of human life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/entertainment-is-a-sacred-pursuit-when-done-well-when-done-well-it/) [Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/) > [It is said that history turns on small hinges. A human career, too, results from an accumulating series of decisions about large and small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/it-is-said-that-history-turns-on-small-hinges-a-human-career-too/) [Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/) > [There is no human nature, since there is no god to conceive it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/there-is-no-human-nature-since-there-is-no-god-to-conceive-it/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he postulates. Not only does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-prophet-who-fails-to-present-a-bearable-alternative-and-yet/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [Nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature... what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action. If you know these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bernbach/nothing-is-so-powerful-as-an-insight-into-human-nature-what/) [William Bernbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bernbach/) > [Houses are like the human beings that inhabit them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/houses-are-like-the-human-beings-that-inhabit-them/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Never underestimate the power of the human mind to believe what it wants to believe, no matter the conflicting evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-herbert/never-underestimate-the-power-of-the-human-mind-to-believe-what-it/) [Brian Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-herbert/) > [Humans are animals too, but some do not like to work from expectations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/humans-are-animals-too-but-some-do-not-like-to-work-from-expectations/) Mak\_786 > [Humans are, as Sartre put it, 'condemned to be free'. To insist that science, or God, objectively defines moral values is to abandon our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenan-malik/humans-are-as-sartre-put-it-condemned-to-be-free-to-insist-that/) Kenan Malik > [Human beings have an innate inner drive to be autonomous, self-determined, and connected to one another. And when that drive is liberated, people achieve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-h-pink/human-beings-have-an-innate-inner-drive-to-be-autonomous-self/) [Daniel H. Pink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-h-pink/) > [Half the misery of human life might be extinguished if men would alleviate the general curse they lie under by mutual offices of compassion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/half-the-misery-of-human-life-might-be-extinguished-if-men-would/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [When grubbing for necessities man is still an animal. He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous and extravagant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/when-grubbing-for-necessities-man-is-still-an-animal-he-becomes/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [I think the next 50 years are going to present the human race with challenges that so far exceed the limitations of geopolitical boundaries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zachary-quinto/i-think-the-next-50-years-are-going-to-present-the-human-race-with/) [Zachary Quinto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zachary-quinto/) > [A Light exists in Spring Not present on the Year At any other period - When March is scarcely here A Color stands abroad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/a-light-exists-in-spring-not-present-on-the-year-at-any-other-period/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) [Browse all 32,126 Humans quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "[On masturbation:] I think that it is part of human sexuality, and perhaps it should be taught.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joycelyn Elders" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joycelyn-elders/on-masturbation-i-think-that-it-is-part-of-human-sexuality-and/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Humans" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joycelyn-elders/on-masturbation-i-think-that-it-is-part-of-human-sexuality-and/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/403/joycelyn-elders-12167_humans_on-masturbation-i-think-that-it-is-part_391361.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/403/joycelyn-elders-12167_humans_on-masturbation-i-think-that-it-is-part_391361.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/403/joycelyn-elders-12167_humans_on-masturbation-i-think-that-it-is-part_391361.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“[On masturbation:] I think that it is part of human sexuality, and perhaps it should be taught.” — Joycelyn Elders", "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": "Joycelyn Elders", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joycelyn-elders/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "[On masturbation:] I think that it...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joycelyn-elders/on-masturbation-i-think-that-it-is-part-of-human-sexuality-and/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joycelyn-elders/on-masturbation-i-think-that-it-is-part-of-human-sexuality-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 } } ] } ```