--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I Don’t Know whether lust is a human…" description: "\"“I Don’t Know whether lust is a human coarseness or a human fineness: I don’t know why death holds a so sweet lure since it would take away my Body: I ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a8/mary-maclane-10500_death_i-don-t-know-whether-lust-is-a-human-coa_87414.jpg" --- # I Don’t Know whether lust is a human coarseness or a human… ![“I Don’t Know whether lust is a human coarseness or a human fineness: I don’t know why death holds a so sweet lure since it would take away my Body: I don’t know that I wouldn’t deny my Christ, if I had one, three times before a given cockcrow: I don’t know on the other hand that I would: I don’t…” quote by Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a8/mary-maclane-10500_death_i-don-t-know-whether-lust-is-a-human-coa_87414.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a8/mary-maclane-10500_death_i-don-t-know-whether-lust-is-a-human-coa_87414.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a8/mary-maclane-10500_death_i-don-t-know-whether-lust-is-a-human-coa_87414.jpg) > ““I Don’t Know whether lust is a human coarseness or a human fineness: I don’t know why death holds a so sweet lure since it would take away my Body: I don’t know that I wouldn’t deny my Christ, if I had one, three times before a given cockcrow: I don’t know on the other hand that I would: I don’t know whether honor is a reality in human beings or a pose: I don’t know that I mayn’t be able to think with my Body when it is in its coffin.”” [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker wrestles with paradoxes of desire, mortality, faith, and honor, acknowledging uncertainty about what drives human behavior and the limits of bodily existence. **In simple terms:** Life’s big questions feel unknowable and contradictory. Key Takeaway Human experience is fraught with unresolved contradictions. Themes existentialism morality faith mortality human nature Mood melancholic introspective conflicted Type philosophical existential poetic When to use this quote - contemplating personal values - grappling with faith doubts - facing terminal illness - navigating moral dilemmas Key Concepts paradox self‑reflection Practical Applications - journaling to clarify values - seeking philosophical dialogue Questions to Reflect On - What contradictions in your life feel most unresolved? - How do you reconcile desire with ethical principles? A Different Perspective The quote’s dense, archaic style may obscure its insights for modern readers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Lust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lust/) [Mortality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mortality/) [Sex](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sex/) [Uncertainty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/uncertainty/) ## Related quotes > [“anger and lust are not the part of human nature.. human show them when someone allows him to show”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/er-teji/anger-and-lust-are-not-the-part-of-human-nature-human-show-them-when/) [er.teji](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/er-teji/) > [Doing, a filthy pleasure is, and short; And done, we straight repent us of the sport: Let us not rush blindly on unto it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/doing-a-filthy-pleasure-is-and-short-and-done-we-straight-repent-us/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [“Death is somewhat easier to meet when you believe, as we do, that to end is to begin. You will learn to walk and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-deangelis/death-is-somewhat-easier-to-meet-when-you-believe-as-we-do-that-to/) Camille DeAngelis > [“But then, I do not know what love is. I know lust and anger. Despair and satisfaction. But love? 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Even nursery rhymes have put me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/yes-i-know-death-sits-with-his-key-in-my-lock-not-one-day-is-taken/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [“If you want me, Koschei Bessmertny, tell me where your death is. Between us there must be no lies. To the world we may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cathrynne-m-valente/if-you-want-me-koschei-bessmertny-tell-me-where-your-death-is-between/) Cathrynne M. Valente > [You haven't lost anything when you know were it is. Death can hide but not divide.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vance-havner/you-haven-t-lost-anything-when-you-know-were-it-is-death-can-hide-but/) [Vance Havner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vance-havner/) > [We know that death never skips or spares anybody and that no one ever returns. And yet we go on like the blind, who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/we-know-that-death-never-skips-or-spares-anybody-and-that-no-one-ever/) [Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/) > [“We rarely know when death will come. Some are warned in sickness - like the track of dirt that runs around the edge of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-ganshert/we-rarely-know-when-death-will-come-some-are-warned-in-sickness-like/) [Katie Ganshert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-ganshert/) > [“Before her, I never knew life. After her, I'd never know death.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brittainy-c-cherry/before-her-i-never-knew-life-after-her-i-d-never-know-death/) [Brittainy C. Cherry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brittainy-c-cherry/) > [“Only by the aid of language does reason bring about its most important achievements, namely the harmonious and consistent action of several individuals, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/only-by-the-aid-of-language-does-reason-bring-about-its-most/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [I know, too, that death is the only god who comes when you call.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-zelazny/i-know-too-that-death-is-the-only-god-who-comes-when-you-call/) [Roger Zelazny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-zelazny/) > [Live today as if it is your last day, because in reality you never know when death is coming.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angelina-elise/live-today-as-if-it-is-your-last-day-because-in-reality-you-never/) Angelina Elise ## More by Mary MacLane > [I want fame more than I can tell. But more than I want fame I want happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/i-want-fame-more-than-i-can-tell-but-more-than-i-want-fame-i-want/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [Fame is indeed beautiful and benign and gentle and satisfying, but happiness is something at once tender and brilliant beyond all things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/fame-is-indeed-beautiful-and-benign-and-gentle-and-satisfying-but/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [Are there many things in this cool-hearted world so utterly exquisite as the pure love of one woman for another woman?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/are-there-many-things-in-this-cool-hearted-world-so-utterly-exquisite/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [“It is of the dubious inevitable side of human nature—like gold teeth and tinned salmon and bastard lacy valentines”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/it-is-of-the-dubious-inevitable-side-of-human-nature-like-gold-teeth/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [I would rather be a fairly happy wife and mother.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/i-would-rather-be-a-fairly-happy-wife-and-mother/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [I am not good. 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Anything, Devil, but that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/may-i-never-i-say-become-that-abnormal-merciless-animal-that-deformed/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [I am lithe, but fragile from constant involuntary self-analysis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/i-am-lithe-but-fragile-from-constant-involuntary-self-analysis/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [Genius of a kind has always been with me; an empty heart that has taken on a certain wooden quality; an excellent, strong woman's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/genius-of-a-kind-has-always-been-with-me-an-empty-heart-that-has/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [at this point I meet Me face to face. I am Mary MacLane: of no importance to the wide bright world and dearly and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/at-this-point-i-meet-me-face-to-face-i-am-mary-maclane-of-no/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [Just why I sent it to the publishers would be hard to say, but when I had finished it I felt that it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/just-why-i-sent-it-to-the-publishers-would-be-hard-to-say-but-when-i/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [The highest thing one can do in literature is to succeed in saying that thing which one meant to say. There is nothing better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/the-highest-thing-one-can-do-in-literature-is-to-succeed-in-saying/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [I want to live quietly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/i-want-to-live-quietly/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) [Explore all 65 Mary MacLane quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) ## More Death quotes > [“He wondered how it was fair that your dying should depend so much on when you were born.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/he-wondered-how-it-was-fair-that-your-dying-should-depend-so-much-on/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. The ego is part of our incarnation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/most-of-us-are-convinced-that-we-are-our-egos-which-is-who-we-think/) [Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/) > [I do not want to live at the cost of the life even of a snake. I should let him bite me to death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-do-not-want-to-live-at-the-cost-of-the-life-even-of-a-snake-i/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“It was beautiful. He thought he had never seen anything so beautiful in all his life; that, having seen it, he could die content,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/it-was-beautiful-he-thought-he-had-never-seen-anything-so-beautiful/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [Retirement? You're talking about death, right?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-altman/retirement-you-re-talking-about-death-right/) [Robert Altman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-altman/) > [With multiplayer, permanent death, and an ever-changing world to explore and conquer, 'A Valley Without Wind' might be the place you're looking for if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-manuel/with-multiplayer-permanent-death-and-an-ever-changing-world-to/) [Rob Manuel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-manuel/) > [“What did you see?” she asked gently. His brow furrowed, as if he could not understand the question. Then his eyes turned to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-anthony-torino/what-did-you-see-she-asked-gently-his-brow-furrowed-as-if-he-could/) J. Anthony Torino > [Those whose life is long still strive for gain, and for all mortals all things take second place to money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/those-whose-life-is-long-still-strive-for-gain-and-for-all-mortals/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [“I practice Dying--every night-- But have not learned to, still-- Though Talented--by Mortal bones-- For such a common Skill.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-w-powers/i-practice-dying-every-night-but-have-not-learned-to-still-though/) Alan W. Powers > [“You must understand the pain and grief of losing someone is nothing more than a function of survival.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-cooper/you-must-understand-the-pain-and-grief-of-losing-someone-is-nothing/) [Steven Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-cooper/) > [I am not a depressive person at all, but I reflect a lot on my life, and life in general, from the perspective of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/i-am-not-a-depressive-person-at-all-but-i-reflect-a-lot-on-my-life/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [“Death is a reality that calls the rest of life and all of our assorted strivings into sharp relief.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/death-is-a-reality-that-calls-the-rest-of-life-and-all-of-our/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [I love life. 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You can’t let anything that seems even semi-important pass, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-crutcher/i-think-when-you-re-dying-you-start-looking-for-important-things-in/) [Chris Crutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-crutcher/) [Browse all 39,127 Death quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I Don’t Know whether lust is a human coarseness or a human fineness: I don’t know why death holds a so sweet lure since it would take away my Body: I don’t know that I wouldn’t deny my Christ, if I had one, three times before a given cockcrow: I don’t know on the other hand that I would: I don’t know whether honor is a reality in human beings or a pose: I don’t know that I mayn’t be able to think with my Body when it is in its coffin.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mary MacLane" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/i-don-t-know-whether-lust-is-a-human-coarseness-or-a-human-fineness-i/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Death" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/i-don-t-know-whether-lust-is-a-human-coarseness-or-a-human-fineness-i/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a8/mary-maclane-10500_death_i-don-t-know-whether-lust-is-a-human-coa_87414.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a8/mary-maclane-10500_death_i-don-t-know-whether-lust-is-a-human-coa_87414.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a8/mary-maclane-10500_death_i-don-t-know-whether-lust-is-a-human-coa_87414.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I Don’t Know whether lust is a human coarseness or a human fineness: I don’t know why death holds a so sweet…” — Mary MacLane", "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": "Mary MacLane", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“I Don’t Know whether lust is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/i-don-t-know-whether-lust-is-a-human-coarseness-or-a-human-fineness-i/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/i-don-t-know-whether-lust-is-a-human-coarseness-or-a-human-fineness-i/#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 } } ] } ```