--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Take sex away from people. Make it…" description: "\"Take sex away from people. Make it forbidden, evil. Limit it to ritualistic breeding. Force it to back up into suppressed sadism. Then hand the people ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ba/robert-a-heinlein-209_age_take-sex-away-from-people-make-it-forbid_592584.jpg" --- # Take sex away from people. Make it forbidden, evil. Limit… ![“Take sex away from people. Make it forbidden, evil. Limit it to ritualistic breeding. Force it to back up into suppressed sadism. Then hand the people a scapegoat to hate. Let them kill a scapegoat occasionally for cathartic release. The mechanism is ages old. Tyrants used it centuries before the…” quote by Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ba/robert-a-heinlein-209_age_take-sex-away-from-people-make-it-forbid_592584.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ba/robert-a-heinlein-209_age_take-sex-away-from-people-make-it-forbid_592584.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ba/robert-a-heinlein-209_age_take-sex-away-from-people-make-it-forbid_592584.jpg) > “Take sex away from people. Make it forbidden, evil. Limit it to ritualistic breeding. Force it to back up into suppressed sadism. Then hand the people a scapegoat to hate. Let them kill a scapegoat occasionally for cathartic release. The mechanism is ages old. Tyrants used it centuries before the word "psychology" was ever invented. It works, too.” [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote describes how controlling sexuality and channeling collective aggression toward a scapegoat can be used by tyrants to maintain power and provide a cathartic outlet for suppressed impulses. **In simple terms:** Control of sex and scapegoating keep societies obedient. Key Takeaway Beware manipulation through sexual repression and scapegoating. Themes power control psychology violence scapegoating Mood cautious critical analytical Type political psychological historical When to use this quote - political regimes - religious cults - authoritarian - mass movements Key Concepts authorological manipulation authoritarianism catharsis Questions to Reflect On - How does repression fuel rebellion? - Can societies thrive without scapegoats? A Different Perspective Such tactics can backfire, creating deeper resentment and instability. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) [Breeding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breeding/) [Cathartic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cathartic/) [Century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/century/) [Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) [Forbidden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forbidden/) [Force](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/force/) [Hands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hands/) [Hate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hate/) [Kill Scapegoat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kill-scapegoat-4846617/) [Limit Ritualistic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/limit-ritualistic-4846618/) [Limits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/limits/) [Mechanism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mechanism/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Release](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/release/) [Sadism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sadism/) [Sadism Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sadism-hand-4846616/) [Scapegoat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scapegoat/) [Sex](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sex/) [Suppressed Sadism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suppressed-sadism-4846615/) [Tyrants](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tyrants/) [Used](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/used/) ## Related quotes > [“Many governments employ torture but this was the first time that the element of Saturnalia and pornography in the process had been made so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/many-governments-employ-torture-but-this-was-the-first-time-that-the/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [The blessed in the kingdom of heaven will see the punishments of the damned, in order that their bliss be more delightful for them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-aquinas/the-blessed-in-the-kingdom-of-heaven-will-see-the-punishments-of-the/) [Thomas Aquinas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-aquinas/) > [Tears gratify a savage nature, they do not melt it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/publilius-syrus/tears-gratify-a-savage-nature-they-do-not-melt-it/) [Publilius Syrus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/publilius-syrus/) > [When I was a baby feminist, leading feminist thinkers were insisting that if women ran the world, there would be no sadism or war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/when-i-was-a-baby-feminist-leading-feminist-thinkers-were-insisting/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [“Was it boredom or sadism that made the shirt service people do up every single button?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/was-it-boredom-or-sadism-that-made-the-shirt-service-people-do-up/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“Yet I had not bargained for this, the girl with tears hanging on her cheeks like stuck pearls, her cunt a split fig below…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/yet-i-had-not-bargained-for-this-the-girl-with-tears-hanging-on-her/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [“The entire affective world, constructed over the years with utmost difficulty, collapses with a kick in the father's genitals, a smack on the mother's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacobo-timerman/the-entire-affective-world-constructed-over-the-years-with-utmost/) [Jacobo Timerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacobo-timerman/) > [“Sadism dominates the culture. 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