--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Miserable creatures, thrown for a moment…" description: "\"Miserable creatures, thrown for a moment on the surface of this little pile of mud, is it decreed that one half of the flock should be the persecutor o..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ec/marquis-de-sade-1964_animals_miserable-creatures-thrown-for-a-moment_450560.jpg" --- # Miserable creatures, thrown for a moment on the surface of… ![“Miserable creatures, thrown for a moment on the surface of this little pile of mud, is it decreed that one half of the flock should be the persecutor of the other? Is it for you, mankind, to pronounce on what is good and what is evil?” quote by Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ec/marquis-de-sade-1964_animals_miserable-creatures-thrown-for-a-moment_450560.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ec/marquis-de-sade-1964_animals_miserable-creatures-thrown-for-a-moment_450560.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ec/marquis-de-sade-1964_animals_miserable-creatures-thrown-for-a-moment_450560.jpg) > “Miserable creatures, thrown for a moment on the surface of this little pile of mud, is it decreed that one half of the flock should be the persecutor of the other? Is it for you, mankind, to pronounce on what is good and what is evil?” [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) ## 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 questions moral authority and the nature of good versus evil, urging reflection on human cruelty and judgment. **In simple terms:** It questions moral authority and evil. Key Takeaway Reflect on humanity’s capacity for both good and harm. Themes morality human nature justice Mood thoughtful serious Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - political debate - literary analysis - social activism Key Concepts philosophy ethics Questions to Reflect On - Who decides what is good? - How do we prevent oppression? A Different Perspective Moral judgments are often biased. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animals/) [Creatures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creatures/) [Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) [Flock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flock/) [Flocks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flocks/) [Good evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-evil/) [Half](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/half/) [Half Flock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/half-flock-3933338/) [Littles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/littles/) [Mankind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mankind/) [Miserable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/miserable/) [Miserable Creatures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/miserable-creatures-361334/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Mud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mud/) [One half](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/one-half/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Surface](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surface/) [Thrown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thrown/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [Max—you have a bigger mission than finding the flock's parents. Focus on helping the whole world, not just your friends. I held my wings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-patterson/max-you-have-a-bigger-mission-than-finding-the-flock-s-parents-focus/) [James Patterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-patterson/) > [From the disease of one the whole flock perishes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juvenal/from-the-disease-of-one-the-whole-flock-perishes/) [Juvenal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juvenal/) > [Men are like sheep, of which a flock is more easily driven than a single one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-whately/men-are-like-sheep-of-which-a-flock-is-more-easily-driven-than-a/) [Richard Whately](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-whately/) > [I looked around. As flock leader, everyone was expecting me to make a decision. Jeb's presence here would bring uncertainty, chaos, probably danger. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-patterson/i-looked-around-as-flock-leader-everyone-was-expecting-me-to-make-a/) [James Patterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-patterson/) > [Everything about Christianity is contained in the pathetic image of 'the flock.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/everything-about-christianity-is-contained-in-the-pathetic-image-of/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [A leader. . .is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-mandela/a-leader-is-like-a-shepherd-he-stays-behind-the-flock-letting-the/) [Nelson Mandela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-mandela/) > [A flock of blessings light upon thy back](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/a-flock-of-blessings-light-upon-thy-back/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Birds of a feather really do flock together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-c-maxwell/birds-of-a-feather-really-do-flock-together/) [John C. Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-c-maxwell/) > [We laugh heartily to see a whole flock of sheep jump because one did so. Might not one imagine that superior beings do the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-fulke-greville/we-laugh-heartily-to-see-a-whole-flock-of-sheep-jump-because-one-did/) [Sir Fulke Greville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-fulke-greville/) > [I don't know how to tell it--but ef such a thing could be As the angels wantin' boardin', and they'd call around on me--…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-whitcomb-riley/i-don-t-know-how-to-tell-it-but-ef-such-a-thing-could-be-as-the/) [James Whitcomb Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-whitcomb-riley/) > [There is not much collective security in a flock of sheep on the way to the butcher.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/there-is-not-much-collective-security-in-a-flock-of-sheep-on-the-way/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [To be a good shepherd is to shear the flock, not skin it!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tiberius/to-be-a-good-shepherd-is-to-shear-the-flock-not-skin-it/) [Tiberius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tiberius/) > [There are two kinds of leaders: those who are interested in the flock, and those who are interested in the fleece.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-esar/there-are-two-kinds-of-leaders-those-who-are-interested-in-the-flock/) [Evan Esar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-esar/) > [“Without this flock, I would be worthless. Without the people in this flock, I'd be empty. Without the people who started this flock, I'd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-a-thompson/without-this-flock-i-would-be-worthless-without-the-people-in-this/) [Shannon A. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-a-thompson/) > [As a maternal figure, I always try to keep the flock safe, of course. But I admit, it did my heart proud to see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-patterson/as-a-maternal-figure-i-always-try-to-keep-the-flock-safe-of-course/) [James Patterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-patterson/) ## More by Marquis de Sade > [What you call disorder is nothing else than one of the laws of the order you comprehend not and which you have erroneously named…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/what-you-call-disorder-is-nothing-else-than-one-of-the-laws-of-the/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [And if I were a naughty little boy, the idea is to spank me into good behavior?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/and-if-i-were-a-naughty-little-boy-the-idea-is-to-spank-me-into-good/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [There is a kind of pleasure which comes from sacrilege or the profanation of the objects offered us for worship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/there-is-a-kind-of-pleasure-which-comes-from-sacrilege-or-the/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [“To enlighten mankind and improve its morals is the only lesson which we offer in this story. In reading it, may the world discover…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/to-enlighten-mankind-and-improve-its-morals-is-the-only-lesson-which/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [What we are doing here is only the image of what we would like to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/what-we-are-doing-here-is-only-the-image-of-what-we-would-like-to-do/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [Happiness lies neither in vice nor in virtue; but in the manner we appreciate the one and the other, and the choice we make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/happiness-lies-neither-in-vice-nor-in-virtue-but-in-the-manner-we/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [What does one want when one is engaged in the sexual act? That everything around you give you its utter attention, think only of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/what-does-one-want-when-one-is-engaged-in-the-sexual-act-that/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [ The law which attempts a man's life \[capital punishment\] is impractical, unjust, inadmissible. It has never repressed crime--for a second crime is every day… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/the-law-which-attempts-a-man-s-life-capital-punishment-is-impractical/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [Between understanding and faith immediate connections must subsist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/between-understanding-and-faith-immediate-connections-must-subsist/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [My passions, concentrated on a single point, resemble the rays of a sun assembled by a magnifying glass: they immediately set fire to whatever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/my-passions-concentrated-on-a-single-point-resemble-the-rays-of-a-sun/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [The idea of God is the sole wrong for which I cannot forgive mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/the-idea-of-god-is-the-sole-wrong-for-which-i-cannot-forgive-mankind/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [Imperious, choleric, irascible, extreme in everything, with a dissolute imagination the like of which has never been seen, atheistic to the point of fanaticism,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/imperious-choleric-irascible-extreme-in-everything-with-a-dissolute/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [Lust's passion will be served; it demands, it militates, it tyrannizes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/lust-s-passion-will-be-served-it-demands-it-militates-it-tyrannizes/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [“In order to know virtue, we must acquaint ourselves with vice. Only then can we know the true measure of a man.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/in-order-to-know-virtue-we-must-acquaint-ourselves-with-vice-only/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [Never may an act of possession be exercised upon a free being; the exclusive possession of a woman is no less unjust than the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/never-may-an-act-of-possession-be-exercised-upon-a-free-being-the/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) [Explore all 181 Marquis de Sade quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) ## More Animals quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. As one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-phoenix/i-was-3-years-old-to-this-day-it-is-a-vivid-memory-my-family-and-i/) [Joaquin Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-phoenix/) > [Animals know nothing of themselves, and they also know nothing of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/animals-know-nothing-of-themselves-and-they-also-know-nothing-of-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/) > [Practically all animals which move fast in a homogeneous medium have found means of giving their body a streamlined shape, thereby reducing friction to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/practically-all-animals-which-move-fast-in-a-homogeneous-medium-have/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [“What does it mean to be a self-conscious animal? The idea is ludicrous, if it is not monstrous. It means to know that one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-self-conscious-animal-the-idea-is-ludicrous/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) > [We must love animals in such a powerful way that we should reject to eat them!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/we-must-love-animals-in-such-a-powerful-way-that-we-should-reject-to/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [I bet plants go like 'Weeeeeeeee!' whenever they're swallowed by a giraffe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-bet-plants-go-like-weeeeeeeee-whenever-they-re-swallowed-by-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It’s a small thing to help one animal, but to that one animal it’s a big thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-baur/it-s-a-small-thing-to-help-one-animal-but-to-that-one-animal-it-s-a/) [Gene Baur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-baur/) > [We animals are the most complicated things in the known universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-animals-are-the-most-complicated-things-in-the-known-universe/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“All these creatures spend their time explaining, realizing happily that they agree with each other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/all-these-creatures-spend-their-time-explaining-realizing-happily/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [We're not very dangerous animals; we don't have a horn like a rhino or quills like a porcupine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-fisher/we-re-not-very-dangerous-animals-we-don-t-have-a-horn-like-a-rhino-or/) [Helen Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-fisher/) > [We need, in a special way, to work twice as hard to help people understand that animals are fellow creatures, that we must protect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesar-chavez/we-need-in-a-special-way-to-work-twice-as-hard-to-help-people/) [Cesar Chavez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesar-chavez/) > [“Plenty of animals had pets, but few were more devoted than the mouse, who owned a baby corn snake—“A rescue snake, she’d be quick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-sedaris/plenty-of-animals-had-pets-but-few-were-more-devoted-than-the-mouse/) [David Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-sedaris/) > [No creature can attain a higher grade of nature without ceasing to exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ananda-coomaraswamy/no-creature-can-attain-a-higher-grade-of-nature-without-ceasing-to/) [Ananda Coomaraswamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ananda-coomaraswamy/) > [Most people are sensitized to animals through their cats and dogs, but for me it was a flounder. I used to go fishing with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-mathews/most-people-are-sensitized-to-animals-through-their-cats-and-dogs-but/) [Dan Mathews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-mathews/) [Browse all 6,813 Animals quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animals/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Miserable creatures, thrown for a moment on the surface of this little pile of mud, is it decreed that one half of the flock should be the persecutor of the other? 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