--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Endless love and voluptuous appetite…" description: "\"“Endless love and voluptuous appetite pervaded this stifling nave in which settled the ardent sap of the tropics. Renée was wrapped in the powerful bri..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/712/mile-zola-1188_decadence_endless-love-and-voluptuous-appetite-per_2108871.png" --- # Endless love and voluptuous appetite pervaded this… ![“Endless love and voluptuous appetite pervaded this stifling nave in which settled the ardent sap of the tropics. Renée was wrapped in the powerful bridals of the earth that gave birth to these dark growths, these colossal stamina; and the acrid birth-throes of this hotbed, of this forest growth…” quote by Émile Zola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/712/mile-zola-1188_decadence_endless-love-and-voluptuous-appetite-per_2108871.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/712/mile-zola-1188_decadence_endless-love-and-voluptuous-appetite-per_2108871.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/712/mile-zola-1188_decadence_endless-love-and-voluptuous-appetite-per_2108871.png) > ““Endless love and voluptuous appetite pervaded this stifling nave in which settled the ardent sap of the tropics. Renée was wrapped in the powerful bridals of the earth that gave birth to these dark growths, these colossal stamina; and the acrid birth-throes of this hotbed, of this forest growth, of this mass of vegetation aglow with the entrails that nourished it, surrounded her with disturbing odours. At her feet was the steaming tank, its tepid water thickened by the sap from the floating roots, enveloping her shoulders with a mantle of heavy vapours, forming a mist that warmed her skin like the touch of a hand moist with desire. Overhead she could smell the palm trees, whose tall leaves shook down their aroma. And more than the stifling heat, more than the brilliant light, more than the great dazzling flowers, like faces laughing or grimacing between the leaves, it was the odours that overwhelmed her. An indescribable perfume, potent, exciting, composed of a thousand different perfumes, hung about her; human exudation, the breath of women, the scent of hair; and breezes sweet and swooningly faint were blended with breezes coarse and pestilential, laden with poison. But amid this strange music of odours, the dominant melody that constantly returned, stifling the sweetness of the vanilla and the orchids' pungency, was the penetrating, sensual smell of flesh, the smell of lovemaking escaping in the early morning from the bedroom of newlyweds.”” [Émile Zola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-zola/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A vivid, sensual description of a lush, oppressive tropical setting that overwhelms the senses with heat, scent, and erotic atmosphere. **In simple terms:** The environment is intensely sensual and suffocating. Key Takeaway Notice how setting can mirror inner desire. Themes sensuality nature overwhelm desire danger Mood intense exotic foreboding Type descriptive evocative poetic When to use this quote - travel writing - exotic adventure - intimate scene Key Concepts romanticism naturalism symbolism Questions to Reflect On - What emotions does the dense atmosphere evoke? - How does the setting reflect the character’s inner state? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Decadence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decadence/) [Early morning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/early-morning/) [Endless love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/endless-love/) [Flowers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flowers/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Love making](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-making/) [Palm trees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/palm-trees/) [Sensual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sensual/) ## Related quotes > [“If we have largely forgotten the physical discomforts of the itching, oppressive garments of the past and the corrosive effects of perpetual physical discomfort…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/if-we-have-largely-forgotten-the-physical-discomforts-of-the-itching/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [Odours have a power of persuasion stronger than that of words, appearances, emotions or will. The persuasive power of an odour cannot be fended…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-s-skind/odours-have-a-power-of-persuasion-stronger-than-that-of-words/) [Patrick Süskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-s-skind/) > [The smell of factory farms . . . many notice these places only when the odours reach their homes, affecting their own quality of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-scully/the-smell-of-factory-farms-many-notice-these-places-only-when-the/) [Matthew Scully](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-scully/) > [If odours may worke satisfaction, they are so soveraigne in plants and so comfortable that no confection of the apothecaries can equall their excellent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gerard/if-odours-may-worke-satisfaction-they-are-so-soveraigne-in-plants-and/) [John Gerard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gerard/) > [To-day I think Only with scents, - scents dead leaves yield, And bracken, and wild carrot's seed, And the square mustard field; Odours that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-thomas/to-day-i-think-only-with-scents-scents-dead-leaves-yield-and-bracken/) [Edward Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-thomas/) > [“If they sing 'Endless Love' or 'No Air,' I'm disowning them both.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-jensen/if-they-sing-endless-love-or-no-air-i-m-disowning-them-both/) [Melissa Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-jensen/) > [“The best part of the gospel is you get to take it with you wherever your heart lands.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-l-alder/the-best-part-of-the-gospel-is-you-get-to-take-it-with-you-wherever/) [Shannon L. Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-l-alder/) > [Endless.. Is the day that fades into night. Slumber's fleeting as the horrors creep into my mind. Round and round they go. No peace…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charity-ann-sones/endless-is-the-day-that-fades-into-night-slumber-s-fleeting-as-the/) Charity Ann Sones > [In grad school, I took a workshop with Scott Spencer, whose excellent novel 'Endless Love' had just been turned into a film. We students…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/in-grad-school-i-took-a-workshop-with-scott-spencer-whose-excellent/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [In your eyes a thousand stars glow tonight, in your heart a thousand heartbeats. But in me one endless love just because I thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-your-eyes-a-thousand-stars-glow-tonight-in-your-heart-a-thousand/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Our obedience to God’s commandments comes as a natural outgrowth of our endless love and gratitude for the goodness of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dieter-f-uchtdorf/our-obedience-to-god-s-commandments-comes-as-a-natural-outgrowth-of/) [Dieter F. Uchtdorf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dieter-f-uchtdorf/) > [Trump is many things. He is pampered. He is an immature man. He is a teenager craving unconditional, endless love from everybody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/trump-is-many-things-he-is-pampered-he-is-an-immature-man-he-is-a/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [Some people feel love in their hearts, Julie. Some of us feel it all way into our souls. We're the ones who can't forget.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/some-people-feel-love-in-their-hearts-julie-some-of-us-feel-it-all/) [Judith McNaught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-mcnaught/) > [A better name for nirvana might be endless love. Love not even in the sense that we see it if we're watching the romantic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/a-better-name-for-nirvana-might-be-endless-love-love-not-even-in-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [“Vel once told me that the heart isn't like a cup of water. You can't drain it. It's more like an endless well, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-aguirre/vel-once-told-me-that-the-heart-isn-t-like-a-cup-of-water-you-can-t/) [Ann Aguirre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-aguirre/) ## More by Émile Zola > [“Hélène, her eyes once more raised and remote, was deep in a dream. She was Lady Rowena, she was in love, with the deep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-zola/h-l-ne-her-eyes-once-more-raised-and-remote-was-deep-in-a-dream-she/) [Émile Zola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-zola/) > [The vague torment of ... ambition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-zola/the-vague-torment-of-ambition/) [Emile Zola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-zola/) > [How evil life must be if it were indeed necessary that such imploring cries, such cries of physical and moral wretchedness, should ever and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-zola/how-evil-life-must-be-if-it-were-indeed-necessary-that-such-imploring/) [Emile Zola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-zola/) > [“he was carried aloft, for the moment, on one of those great waves of hope from which he was usually plunged deep into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-zola/he-was-carried-aloft-for-the-moment-on-one-of-those-great-waves-of/) [Émile Zola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-zola/) > [“Death had to take her little by little, bit by bit, dragging her along to the bitter end of the miserable existence she'd made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-zola/death-had-to-take-her-little-by-little-bit-by-bit-dragging-her-along/) [Émile Zola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-zola/) > [If something's just, I'll let myself be hacked to bits for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-zola/if-something-s-just-i-ll-let-myself-be-hacked-to-bits-for-it/) [Emile Zola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-zola/) > [“Lastly, I accuse the first court-martial of having violated the law by condemning an accused person on one document kept secret, and I accuse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-zola/lastly-i-accuse-the-first-court-martial-of-having-violated-the-law-by/) [Émile Zola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-zola/) > [“vexation, yet filled with unconscious regret for the terrible unknown things that might have, but had not, happened (23)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-zola/vexation-yet-filled-with-unconscious-regret-for-the-terrible-unknown/) [Émile Zola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-zola/) > [“Good gracious!" she exclaimed, "she's been more than an hour in there! When the priests set about cleansing her of her sins, the choir-boys…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-zola/good-gracious-she-exclaimed-she-s-been-more-than-an-hour-in-there/) [Émile Zola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-zola/) > [The only basis for living is believing in life, loving it, and applying the whole force of one's intellect to know it better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-zola/the-only-basis-for-living-is-believing-in-life-loving-it-and-applying/) [Emile Zola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-zola/) > [“A new dynasty is never founded without a struggle. Blood makes good manure. It will be a good thing for the Rougon family to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-zola/a-new-dynasty-is-never-founded-without-a-struggle-blood-makes-good/) [Émile Zola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-zola/) > [I believe that all is illusion and vanity outside the treasure of truths slowly accumulated, and which will never again be lost. I believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-zola/i-believe-that-all-is-illusion-and-vanity-outside-the-treasure-of/) [Emile Zola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-zola/) > [“After a time, she believed in the reality of this comedy”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-zola/after-a-time-she-believed-in-the-reality-of-this-comedy/) [Émile Zola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-zola/) > [“She wanted to live, and live fully, and to give life, she who loved life! What was the good of existing, if you couldn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-zola/she-wanted-to-live-and-live-fully-and-to-give-life-she-who-loved-life/) [Émile Zola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-zola/) > [The fear of life, the fear of burdens and of duties, of annoyances and of catastrophes! The fear of life, which makes us, through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-zola/the-fear-of-life-the-fear-of-burdens-and-of-duties-of-annoyances-and/) [Emile Zola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-zola/) [Explore all 243 Émile Zola quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-zola/) ## More Decadence quotes > [One defining symptom of decadence is a fondness for vast and nonsensical extravagance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-silverberg/one-defining-symptom-of-decadence-is-a-fondness-for-vast-and/) [Robert Silverberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-silverberg/) > [“Like symbolism, decadence puts forth the idea that the function of literature is to evoke impressions and 'correspondences', rather than to realistically depict the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asti-hustvedt/like-symbolism-decadence-puts-forth-the-idea-that-the-function-of/) [Asti Hustvedt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asti-hustvedt/) > [I think Illium can take care of himself.” “Not if he keeps flirting with you.” A fine, almost elegant tendril of heat, champagne and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nalini-singh/i-think-illium-can-take-care-of-himself-not-if-he-keeps-flirting-with/) [Nalini Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nalini-singh/) > [“(Decadent style) is ingenious, complicated, learned, full of shades of meaning and research, always pushing further the limits of language... forcing itself to express…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theophile-gautier/decadent-style-is-ingenious-complicated-learned-full-of-shades-of/) [Theophile Gautier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theophile-gautier/) > [“After two years' absence she finally returned to chilly Europe, a trifle weary, a trifle sad, disgusted by our banal entertainments, our shrunken landscapes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octave-mirbeau/after-two-years-absence-she-finally-returned-to-chilly-europe-a/) [Octave Mirbeau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octave-mirbeau/) > [I definitely consider 'Poses' - the whole album in fact - to be kind of a miracle. Like the last breath of that moment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rufus-wainwright/i-definitely-consider-poses-the-whole-album-in-fact-to-be-kind-of-a/) [Rufus Wainwright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rufus-wainwright/) > [Content without style is propaganda or adolescence. Style without content is decadence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-mae-brown/content-without-style-is-propaganda-or-adolescence-style-without/) [Rita Mae Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-mae-brown/) > [Misgovernment is of four kinds, often in combination. They are: 1) tyranny or oppression, of which history provides so many well-known examples that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-tuchman/misgovernment-is-of-four-kinds-often-in-combination-they-are-1/) [Barbara Tuchman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-tuchman/) > [Fundamentalists believe that we don't believe in anything. In their view of the world, they are in possession of absolute certainties, while we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/fundamentalists-believe-that-we-don-t-believe-in-anything-in-their/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [The attraction of horror is a mental, or even an intellectual, excitement, but the fascination of the repulsive, so noticeable incontemporary writing, can spring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-glasgow/the-attraction-of-horror-is-a-mental-or-even-an-intellectual/) [Ellen Glasgow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-glasgow/) > [“He saw a chamber, broad and low, designed, in its every rich stain of picture and slumberous hanging, to appeal to the sensuous. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-capes/he-saw-a-chamber-broad-and-low-designed-in-its-every-rich-stain-of/) [Bernard Capes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-capes/) > [The history of prevailing status quos shows decay and decadence infecting the opulent materialism of the Haves. The spiritual life of the Haves is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-history-of-prevailing-status-quos-shows-decay-and-decadence/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I want my children to be bold,free,self-reliant and capable of changing the phase of that portion of the earth where they live. They may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amun-djoleto/i-want-my-children-to-be-bold-free-self-reliant-and-capable-of/) Amun Djoleto > [“Evolution has no foresight. Complex machinery develops its own agendas. Brains — cheat. Feedback loops evolve to promote stable heartbeats and then stumble upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-watts/evolution-has-no-foresight-complex-machinery-develops-its-own-agendas/) [Peter Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-watts/) > [“Conventional, organized religion, in its most decadent form, is an inert parody of the genuine religious experience as much as modern occult organizations are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zeena-schreck/conventional-organized-religion-in-its-most-decadent-form-is-an-inert/) [Zeena Schreck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zeena-schreck/) [Browse all 204 Decadence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decadence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Endless love and voluptuous appetite pervaded this stifling nave in which settled the ardent sap of the tropics. Renée was wrapped in the powerful bridals of the earth that gave birth to these dark growths, these colossal stamina; and the acrid birth-throes of this hotbed, of this forest growth, of this mass of vegetation aglow with the entrails that nourished it, surrounded her with disturbing odours. At her feet was the steaming tank, its tepid water thickened by the sap from the floating roots, enveloping her shoulders with a mantle of heavy vapours, forming a mist that warmed her skin like the touch of a hand moist with desire. Overhead she could smell the palm trees, whose tall leaves shook down their aroma. And more than the stifling heat, more than the brilliant light, more than the great dazzling flowers, like faces laughing or grimacing between the leaves, it was the odours that overwhelmed her. 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