--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: So what happened when base desires and…" description: "\"“So what happened when base desires and unworthy passions troubled the flesh of men and women inhibited from casual promiscuity, adultery, and divorce ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/278/wallace-stegner-1352_desire_so-what-happened-when-base-desires-and-u_2639198.png" --- # So what happened when base desires and unworthy passions… ![“So what happened when base desires and unworthy passions troubled the flesh of men and women inhibited from casual promiscuity, adultery, and divorce that keep us so healthy?” quote by Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/278/wallace-stegner-1352_desire_so-what-happened-when-base-desires-and-u_2639198.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/278/wallace-stegner-1352_desire_so-what-happened-when-base-desires-and-u_2639198.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/278/wallace-stegner-1352_desire_so-what-happened-when-base-desires-and-u_2639198.png) > ““So what happened when base desires and unworthy passions troubled the flesh of men and women inhibited from casual promiscuity, adultery, and divorce that keep us so healthy?”” [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Unchecked desires and immoral passions erode moral health, leading to societal decay. **In simple terms:** Immoral passions harm individuals and society. Key Takeaway Guard against base impulses. Themes morality desire societal health Mood reflective serious Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal counseling - education curricula - community standards Key Concepts Ethical philosophy human nature Questions to Reflect On - How to balance desire and restraint? - What defines “unworthy” passions? A Different Perspective Might be overly moralistic. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Casual Promiscuity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/casual-promiscuity-2254567/) [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Divorce Healthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/divorce-healthy-2254569/) [Men and women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men-and-women/) [Passions Troubled](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passions-troubled-2254568/) [Promiscuity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/promiscuity/) [Promiscuity Adultery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/promiscuity-adultery-2254566/) ## Related quotes > [“Strangers when you meet, strangers when you part -a gymnasium of bodies namelessly masturbating each other. 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Promiscuity had decked himself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gena-showalter/he-reclined-on-a-delightfully-cushioned-lounge-in-the-sprawling-ranch/) [Gena Showalter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gena-showalter/) > [“Monogamy is not a choice, it is a responsibility of a genuine human.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/monogamy-is-not-a-choice-it-is-a-responsibility-of-a-genuine-human/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [I consider promiscuity immoral. 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She reproduces herself with abandon, with teeming infinite generosity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-ozeki/the-wondrous-thing-about-nature-her-gift-to-us-is-her-wanton/) [Ruth Ozeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ozeki/) > [My sister stood up, trembling, and I must admit that I expected her familiar sneer to have taken its usual place on her face.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-robert-lennon/my-sister-stood-up-trembling-and-i-must-admit-that-i-expected-her/) [J. Robert Lennon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-robert-lennon/) > [I believe capitalism is dying a slow death right now, as you can see with the recession and with the credit crunch and with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anjem-choudary/i-believe-capitalism-is-dying-a-slow-death-right-now-as-you-can-see/) [Anjem Choudary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anjem-choudary/) > [“To the Paris apartment, which for him was synonymous with promiscuity, he preferred a house with a garden, in countryside which was not really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beno-t-peeters/to-the-paris-apartment-which-for-him-was-synonymous-with-promiscuity/) [Benoît Peeters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beno-t-peeters/) > [A lot of gay men have a lot of sex. That's what we do. But I've stopped all that-the revolving door into my bedroom.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-clary/a-lot-of-gay-men-have-a-lot-of-sex-that-s-what-we-do-but-i-ve-stopped/) [Julian Clary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-clary/) > [“Two sad eyes and one skanky smile, I practically pulse with the promise of promiscuity. I'm easy to catch, but too slippery to hold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kris-kidd/two-sad-eyes-and-one-skanky-smile-i-practically-pulse-with-the/) [Kris Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kris-kidd/) ## More by Wallace Stegner > [“I have to blame myself for not finding any way of reaching him, but I can't feel that either Ruth or I had anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/i-have-to-blame-myself-for-not-finding-any-way-of-reaching-him-but-i/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [No life goes past so swiftly as an eventless one, no clock spins like a clock whose days are all alike.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/no-life-goes-past-so-swiftly-as-an-eventless-one-no-clock-spins-like/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“within yourself, you became a grave for her as you were a grave for Chet, and you carried your dead unquietly within you. —”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/within-yourself-you-became-a-grave-for-her-as-you-were-a-grave-for/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [Towns are like people. 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His fictional house should be haunted by ideas, not inhabited by them; they should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/the-creative-writer-is-compulsively-concrete-his-fictional-house/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [Hard writing makes easy reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/hard-writing-makes-easy-reading/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [You married me...but you didn't marry what you could make out of me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/you-married-me-but-you-didn-t-marry-what-you-could-make-out-of-me/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [Wisdom. . .is knowing what you have to accept.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/wisdom-is-knowing-what-you-have-to-accept/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“His mouth is full of ecology, his mind is full of fumes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/his-mouth-is-full-of-ecology-his-mind-is-full-of-fumes/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [I gave my heart to the mountains the minute I stood beside this river with its spray in my face and watched it thunder…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/i-gave-my-heart-to-the-mountains-the-minute-i-stood-beside-this-river/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“Poetry ought to be a by-product of living, and you can't have a by-product unless you've got a product first .”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/poetry-ought-to-be-a-by-product-of-living-and-you-can-t-have-a-by/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed; if we permit the last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/something-will-have-gone-out-of-us-as-a-people-if-we-ever-let-the/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“Some people, I am told, have memories like computers, nothing to do but punch the button and wait for the print-out. Mine is more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/some-people-i-am-told-have-memories-like-computers-nothing-to-do-but/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [ “\[Y\]ou were too alert to the figurative possibilities of words not to see the phrase \[angle of repose\] as descriptive of human as well… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/y-ou-were-too-alert-to-the-figurative-possibilities-of-words-not-to/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) [Explore all 251 Wallace Stegner quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) ## More Desire quotes > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) [Ted Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-martinez/) > [Passion is what you need to be good, an unforgiving passion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-easton/passion-is-what-you-need-to-be-good-an-unforgiving-passion/) [David Easton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-easton/) > [I want the municipality to be a helping hand to the man with a desire of sympathy, to help the fallen when it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burns/i-want-the-municipality-to-be-a-helping-hand-to-the-man-with-a-desire/) [John Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burns/) > [Ye youths and virgins, when your generous blood Has drunk the warmth of fifteen summers, now The loves invite; now to new rapture wakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-armstrong/ye-youths-and-virgins-when-your-generous-blood-has-drunk-the-warmth/) [John Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-armstrong/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [“THE ESSENCE OF YOUR DESIRE IS A FEELING”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danielle-laporte/the-essence-of-your-desire-is-a-feeling/) [Danielle LaPorte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danielle-laporte/) > [On the brink of being satiated, desire still appears infinite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-rostand/on-the-brink-of-being-satiated-desire-still-appears-infinite/) [Jean Rostand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-rostand/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [He caught her, she fell, he caught her in his arms, he held her tightly unconscious of what he was doing. He held her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/he-caught-her-she-fell-he-caught-her-in-his-arms-he-held-her-tightly/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [ Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. My three \[great teachers\] did not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/teaching-might-even-be-the-greatest-of-the-arts-since-the-medium-is/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-deepest-urge-in-human-nature-is-the-desire-to-be-important/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [In discovering books, you became free to explore the full range of human motives, desires, secrets, and lies. All my life, people have scolded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/in-discovering-books-you-became-free-to-explore-the-full-range-of/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) > [I have never been in, nor have I had any strong particular desire to be in, what is termed a costume drama, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-freeman/i-have-never-been-in-nor-have-i-had-any-strong-particular-desire-to/) [Martin Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-freeman/) > [Now I am in the place I call this wide wide Heaven because it includes all my simplest desires but also the most humble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/now-i-am-in-the-place-i-call-this-wide-wide-heaven-because-it/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [“from THE DEVIL YOU KNOW : She wanted him too. He could see it in the rapid rise of her breasts. He could smell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emery-lee/from-the-devil-you-know-she-wanted-him-too-he-could-see-it-in-the/) [Emery Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emery-lee/) [Browse all 15,155 Desire quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“So what happened when base desires and unworthy passions troubled the flesh of men and women inhibited from casual promiscuity, adultery, and divorce that keep us so healthy?”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Wallace Stegner" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/so-what-happened-when-base-desires-and-unworthy-passions-troubled-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Desire" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/so-what-happened-when-base-desires-and-unworthy-passions-troubled-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/278/wallace-stegner-1352_desire_so-what-happened-when-base-desires-and-u_2639198.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/278/wallace-stegner-1352_desire_so-what-happened-when-base-desires-and-u_2639198.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/278/wallace-stegner-1352_desire_so-what-happened-when-base-desires-and-u_2639198.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“So what happened when base desires and unworthy passions troubled the flesh of men and women inhibited from…” — Wallace Stegner", "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": "Wallace Stegner", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“So what happened when base desires...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/so-what-happened-when-base-desires-and-unworthy-passions-troubled-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/so-what-happened-when-base-desires-and-unworthy-passions-troubled-the/#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 } } ] } ```