--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Indeed, the very first acknowledgment (as…" description: "\"Indeed, the very first acknowledgment (as far as I am aware) of the attraction of mutilated bodies occurs in a founding description of mental conflict...." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/950/susan-sontag-332_angry_indeed-the-very-first-acknowledgment-as_2045374.jpg" --- # Indeed, the very first acknowledgment (as far as I am… ![“Indeed, the very first acknowledgment (as far as I am aware) of the attraction of mutilated bodies occurs in a founding description of mental conflict. It is a passage in The Republic, Book IV, where Plato’s Socrates describes how our reason may be overwhelmed by an unworthy desire, which drives…” quote by Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/950/susan-sontag-332_angry_indeed-the-very-first-acknowledgment-as_2045374.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/950/susan-sontag-332_angry_indeed-the-very-first-acknowledgment-as_2045374.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/950/susan-sontag-332_angry_indeed-the-very-first-acknowledgment-as_2045374.jpg) > “Indeed, the very first acknowledgment (as far as I am aware) of the attraction of mutilated bodies occurs in a founding description of mental conflict. It is a passage in The Republic, Book IV, where Plato’s Socrates describes how our reason may be overwhelmed by an unworthy desire, which drives the self to become angry with a part of its nature.” [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Plato illustrates that reason can be overrun by base desires, causing inner conflict and self‑directed anger. **In simple terms:** Reason can be overpowered by unhealthy urges, leading to inner turmoil. Key Takeaway Recognize and temper destructive desires. Themes philosophy psychology ethics conflict self‑control Mood reflective serious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal reflection - therapy - ethical decision‑making - education Key Concepts Platonic dialogue inner conflict desire management Questions to Reflect On - How do you notice when desire overrides reason? - What strategies help balance desire and rational thought? A Different Perspective Desires may be rationalized, making self‑control difficult. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Angry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/angry/) [Attraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attraction/) [Attraction Mutilated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attraction-mutilated-3827691/) [Bodies Occurs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bodies-occurs-1525198/) [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Conflict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conflict/) [Description](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/description/) [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Founding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/founding/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Mental Conflict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mental-conflict-3827693/) [Mutilated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mutilated/) [Mutilated Bodies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mutilated-bodies-3827692/) [Overwhelmed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/overwhelmed/) [Passages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passages/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plato/) [Plato s](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plato-s/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Republic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/republic/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Unworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unworthy/) ## Related quotes > [Seek the outstanding mental conflict in the person, give him the remedy that will overcome that conflict and all the hope and encouragement you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bach/seek-the-outstanding-mental-conflict-in-the-person-give-him-the/) [Edward Bach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bach/) > [Progress is not automatic, it depends on what we do every day. So any statement of ownership of our own bodies, however that occurs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/progress-is-not-automatic-it-depends-on-what-we-do-every-day-so-any/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [I got my heart broken. My spirit got shattered and mutilated. I will not be coming back from this. I don’t want to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins/i-got-my-heart-broken-my-spirit-got-shattered-and-mutilated-i-will/) [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) > [“And sometimes being mutilated can work to your advantage. All those people now with piercings and tattoos and brandings and scarification... What I mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/and-sometimes-being-mutilated-can-work-to-your-advantage-all-those/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [“The dismaying thing about the classic totalitarian mind is that any given gear, though mutilated, will have at its circumference unbroken sequences of teeth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/the-dismaying-thing-about-the-classic-totalitarian-mind-is-that-any-2/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [The human rainbow had been mutilated by machismo, racism, militarism and a lot of other isms, who have been terribly killing our greatness, our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eduardo-galeano/the-human-rainbow-had-been-mutilated-by-machismo-racism-militarism/) [Eduardo Galeano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eduardo-galeano/) > [“The death of Nighteyes gutted me. I walked wounded through my life in the days that followed, unaware of just how mutilated I was.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/the-death-of-nighteyes-gutted-me-i-walked-wounded-through-my-life-in/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [Besides, it happens fast for some people and slow for some, accidents or gravity, but we all end up mutilated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/besides-it-happens-fast-for-some-people-and-slow-for-some-accidents/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [Well, of course there’s my own experience of being mutilated as a little child. Having gone through this cruel practice and all the long-term…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/waris-dirie/well-of-course-there-s-my-own-experience-of-being-mutilated-as-a/) [Waris Dirie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/waris-dirie/) > [I got my heart broken. My spirit got shattered and mutilated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-got-my-heart-broken-my-spirit-got-shattered-and-mutilated/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Little old lady got mutilated late last night, werewolves of London, again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-zevon/little-old-lady-got-mutilated-late-last-night-werewolves-of-london/) [Warren Zevon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-zevon/) > [I survived this torture which left me paralyzed for years. That's what that night was all about, mutilation, more than violence through sex. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tori-amos/i-survived-this-torture-which-left-me-paralyzed-for-years-that-s-what/) [Tori Amos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tori-amos/) > [I've been so mutilated by a lot of articles. I know I haven't said a lot of things I'm quoted as saying in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-docter/i-ve-been-so-mutilated-by-a-lot-of-articles-i-know-i-haven-t-said-a/) [Mary Docter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-docter/) > [“manhood into smithereens. My ego was bruised. Battered. Mutilated beyond recognition. My pride was hurt. Crushed. Decimated beyond recovery. But by nothing short of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-arcane/manhood-into-smithereens-my-ego-was-bruised-battered-mutilated-beyond/) [Annie Arcane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-arcane/) > [“Having been, not only mutilated in our country, wounded in our very flesh, but also divested of our most beautiful images, for you gave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/having-been-not-only-mutilated-in-our-country-wounded-in-our-very/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) ## More by Susan Sontag > [the appetite for thinking must be regulated, as all sensible people know, for it may stifle one's life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-appetite-for-thinking-must-be-regulated-as-all-sensible-people/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [We are ruled by quotations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/we-are-ruled-by-quotations/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Unfortunately, moral beauty in art - like physical beauty in a person - is extremely perishable. It is nowhere so durable as artistic or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/unfortunately-moral-beauty-in-art-like-physical-beauty-in-a-person-is/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Like the collector, the photographer is animated by a passion that, even when it appears to be for the present, is linked to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/like-the-collector-the-photographer-is-animated-by-a-passion-that/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [ Anthropology has always struggled with an intense, fascinated repulsion towards its subject… \[The anthropologist\] submits himself to the exotic to confirm his own inner… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/anthropology-has-always-struggled-with-an-intense-fascinated/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [“Why not eliminate schooling between age 12-16? It’s biologically + psychologically too turbulent a time to be cooped up inside, made to sit all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/why-not-eliminate-schooling-between-age-12-16-it-s-biologically/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [To photograph people is to violate them, by seeing them as they never see themselves, by having knowledge of them that they can never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/to-photograph-people-is-to-violate-them-by-seeing-them-as-they-never/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [One set of messages of the society we live in is: Consume. Grow. Do what you want. Amuse yourselves. The very working of this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/one-set-of-messages-of-the-society-we-live-in-is-consume-grow-do-what/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Currently intellectuals in Western Europe and North America are extremely demoralized and shaken by the rise of a virulent conservative tendency (which some have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/currently-intellectuals-in-western-europe-and-north-america-are/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [With the modern diseases (once TB, now cancer) the romantic idea that the disease expresses the character is invariably extended to assert that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/with-the-modern-diseases-once-tb-now-cancer-the-romantic-idea-that/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [As objects of contemplation, images of the atrocious can answer to several different needs. To steel oneself against weakness. To make oneself more numb.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/as-objects-of-contemplation-images-of-the-atrocious-can-answer-to/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [The creative phase of an idea coincides with the period during which it insists, cantankerously, on its boundaries, on what makes it different; but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-creative-phase-of-an-idea-coincides-with-the-period-during-which/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Photographs objectify: they turn an event or a person into something that can be possessed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/photographs-objectify-they-turn-an-event-or-a-person-into-something/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [I'm not interested in giving aid and comfort to the neo­-Conservatives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/i-m-not-interested-in-giving-aid-and-comfort-to-the-neo-conservatives/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [The feminist movement has been important to me because it's made me feel less odd and also because it has made me understand some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-feminist-movement-has-been-important-to-me-because-it-s-made-me/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) [Explore all 644 Susan Sontag quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) ## More Angry quotes > [“Some say the Earth is angry Because he wants no company; I say the Earth is angry Because he lives alone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-k-jemisin/some-say-the-earth-is-angry-because-he-wants-no-company-i-say-the/) [N.K. Jemisin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-k-jemisin/) > [There's only so much for a man to take...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kirsten-gilchrist/there-s-only-so-much-for-a-man-to-take/) [Kirsten Gilchrist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kirsten-gilchrist/) > [It is afraid of an informed, angry public demanding the constitutional government it was promised - and it should be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-snowden/it-is-afraid-of-an-informed-angry-public-demanding-the-constitutional/) [Edward Snowden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-snowden/) > [“When you feel terribly angry, you're possessed by anger ghost.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toba-beta/when-you-feel-terribly-angry-you-re-possessed-by-anger-ghost/) [Toba Beta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toba-beta/) > [You should be angry. You must not be bitter. Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. It doesn't do anything to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-should-be-angry-you-must-not-be-bitter-bitterness-is-like-cancer/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [I always fight better when my opponent's angry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-haye/i-always-fight-better-when-my-opponent-s-angry/) [David Haye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-haye/) > [Sometimes you have to laugh to keep from crying or getting overly angry or to maintain control.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-haysbert/sometimes-you-have-to-laugh-to-keep-from-crying-or-getting-overly/) [Dennis Haysbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-haysbert/) > [When you're frustrated with people, when they've made you angry, it just may be because you haven't given them enough time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-pausch/when-you-re-frustrated-with-people-when-they-ve-made-you-angry-it/) [Randy Pausch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-pausch/) > [When I was writing 'Black Panther,' on one level, I was angry because DC would never let me write 'Batman,' so I was doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-priest/when-i-was-writing-black-panther-on-one-level-i-was-angry-because-dc/) [Christopher Priest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-priest/) > [Another step had her backed up against the wall, and he braced his arms on both sides of her. 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So I leaned over and I said…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hanks/in-the-1998-oscars-i-found-myself-in-the-bathroom-in-a-stall-next-to/) [Tom Hanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hanks/) > [Of course I get angry, but I want to use my brain a little bit and not just smash things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kacey-musgraves/of-course-i-get-angry-but-i-want-to-use-my-brain-a-little-bit-and-not/) [Kacey Musgraves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kacey-musgraves/) > [“Rather than being incensed by the nature of the bruise, maybe we should be inspired by the possibilities in the bruise.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/rather-than-being-incensed-by-the-nature-of-the-bruise-maybe-we/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) [Browse all 3,857 Angry quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/angry/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Indeed, the very first acknowledgment (as far as I am aware) of the attraction of mutilated bodies occurs in a founding description of mental conflict. 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