We can come to look upon the deaths of our enemies with as much regret as we feel for those of our friends, namely, when we miss their existence as witnesses to our success.
Arthur SchopenhauerRead
Every woman while she would be ready to die of shame if surprised in the act of generation, nonetheless carries her pregnancy without a trace of shame and indeed with a kind of pride. The reason is that pregnancy is in a certain sense a cancellation of the guilt incurred by coitus; thus coitus bears all the shame and disgrace of the affair, while pregnancy, which is so intimately associated with it, stays pure and innocent and is indeed to some extent sacred.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the complex feelings of shame and pride associated with coitus and pregnancy.
Arthur Schopenhauer's quote highlights the paradoxical nature of societal views on sexuality and motherhood. While the act of coitus is often laden with shame, pregnancy is perceived as a sacred and pure state, allowing women to shift their feelings of guilt from the act of sexual intercourse to a sense of pride in motherhood. This duality illustrates how cultural perspectives can shape our emotions and values regarding body and identity.
Themes
PregnancyShamePrideCoitusSocietyMotherhood
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about women's empowerment, this quote illustrates the contradiction in societal views on sexuality.
More from Arthur Schopenhauer
All quotes →To be shocked at how deeply rejection hurts is to ignore what acceptance involves. We must never allow our suffering to be compounded by suggestions that there is something odd in suffering so deeply. There would be something amiss if we didn't.
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Life is full of troubles and vexations, that one must either rise above it by means of corrected thoughts, or leave it.
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Our religions will never at any time take root; the ancient wisdom of the human race will not be supplanted by the events in Galilee. On the contrary, Indian wisdom flows back to Europe, and will produce a fundamental change in our knowledge and thought.
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We will gradually become indifferent to what goes on in the minds of other people when we acquire a knowledge of the superficial nature of their thoughts, the narrowness of their views and of the number of their errors. Whoever attaches a lot of value to the opinions of others pays them too much honor.
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