--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What does one want when one is engaged in…" description: "\"What does one want when one is engaged in the sexual act? That everything around you give you its utter attention, think only of you, care only for you..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/987/marquis-de-sade-1964_attention_what-does-one-want-when-one-is-engaged-i_93072.jpg" --- # What does one want when one is engaged in the sexual act?… ![“What does one want when one is engaged in the sexual act? That everything around you give you its utter attention, think only of you, care only for you...every man wants to be a tyrant when he fornicates.” quote by Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/987/marquis-de-sade-1964_attention_what-does-one-want-when-one-is-engaged-i_93072.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/987/marquis-de-sade-1964_attention_what-does-one-want-when-one-is-engaged-i_93072.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/987/marquis-de-sade-1964_attention_what-does-one-want-when-one-is-engaged-i_93072.jpg) > “What does one want when one is engaged in the sexual act? That everything around you give you its utter attention, think only of you, care only for you...every man wants to be a tyrant when he fornicates.” [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. He argues that sexual activity is driven by a desire for total attention and domination, reducing the act to a power play. **In simple terms:** Sex is a quest for dominance. Key Takeaway Desire for control underlies erotic behavior. Themes power desire ego sexuality attention Mood provocative cynical Type philosophical observation cultural critique When to use this quote - intimate relationships - sexual negotiation - power dynamics - consent discussions Key Concepts psychology masochism ego Practical Applications - sexual education - relationship counseling Questions to Reflect On - What does this view reveal about consent? - Can intimacy exist without power struggles? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Attention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attention/) [Care](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/care/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Sex](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sex/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Tyrants](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tyrants/) ## Related quotes > [It has, moreover, been proven that horror, nastiness, and the frightful are what give pleasure when one fornicates. Beauty is a simple thing; ugliness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/it-has-moreover-been-proven-that-horror-nastiness-and-the-frightful/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [The more a man cultivates the arts the less he fornicates. A more and more apparent cleavage occurs between the spirit and the brute.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/the-more-a-man-cultivates-the-arts-the-less-he-fornicates-a-more-and/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [The backseat produced the sexual revolution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-rubin/the-backseat-produced-the-sexual-revolution/) [Jerry Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-rubin/) > [Yeah, you go after her, and I suggest you invest in a steel plated jockstrap. 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One consequence of this binge is that while people now get into bed more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shana-alexander/we-are-on-a-sexual-binge-in-this-country-one-consequence-of-this/) [Shana Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shana-alexander/) > [Certainly that's what I like in a lot of the music that I listen to, kind of a sexual energy. Guitars and rock get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-ridgeley/certainly-that-s-what-i-like-in-a-lot-of-the-music-that-i-listen-to/) [Andrew Ridgeley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-ridgeley/) > ["Natural" is a very dangerous word to use about sexuality ... Our society's notions of normality are completely fake and meta-trendy, since they rely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susie-bright/natural-is-a-very-dangerous-word-to-use-about-sexuality-our-society-s/) [Susie Bright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-bright/) > [Sexual activity, and the thoughts and fantasies of sex, use up a great portion of our vital force. When that force is conserved through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patanjali/sexual-activity-and-the-thoughts-and-fantasies-of-sex-use-up-a-great/) [Patanjali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patanjali/) > [You're on Facebook, and you're supposed to know your sexual orientation at 13... Nobody really knows what's going on at that time, and people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cameron-mitchell/you-re-on-facebook-and-you-re-supposed-to-know-your-sexual/) [John Cameron Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cameron-mitchell/) ## 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. 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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/) > [I am about to put foward some major ideas; they will be heard and pondered. 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