There are horrors beyond life's edge that we do not suspect, and once in a while man's evil prying calls them just within our range.
H. P. LovecraftRead
The man or nation of high culture may acknowledge to great lengths the restraints imposed by conventions and honour, but beyond a certain point, primitive will or desire cannot be curbed.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that despite societal conventions, deep primal desires and instincts can ultimately dominate human behavior.
H. P. Lovecraft's quote reflects on the tension between civilization's expectations and the inherent, often uncontrollable, instincts present in human nature. It highlights that no matter how cultured or refined individuals or societies may become, there exists a limit to how much they can suppress their most basic desires. At some point, the primal aspects of human existence will surge forth, challenging the constraints of social order and moral conventions.
Themes
CultureDesireInstinctSocietyNature
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion on human nature, this quote can illustrate how primal instincts influence behavior.
More from H. P. Lovecraft
All quotes →I know always that I am an outsider; a stranger in this century and among those who are still men.
H. P. LovecraftRead
Searchers after horror haunt strange, far places.
H. P. LovecraftRead
The process of delving into the black abyss is to me the keenest form of fascination.
H. P. LovecraftRead
No new horror can be more terrible than the daily torture of the commonplace.
H. P. LovecraftRead
I am, indeed, an absolute materialist so far as actual belief goes; with not a shred of credence in any form of supernaturalism—religion, spiritualism, transcendentalism, metempsychosis, or immortality.
H. P. LovecraftRead
Similar quotes
You go away for a long time and return a different person - you never come all the way back.
Paul TherouxRead
The discovery of a wine is of greater moment than the discovery of a constellation. The universe is too full of stars.
Benjamin FranklinRead
Being of service is not an option, it is a biological necessity. Every kind of action we do for someone is a reanimation of our own life force - and of the other person's.
Caroline MyssRead
If we use common words on a great occasion, they are the more striking, because they are felt at once to have a particular meaning, like old banners, or everyday clothes, hung up in a sacred place.
George EliotRead
The ultimate goal of theology isn't knowledge, but worship. If our learning and knowledge of God do not lead to the joyful praise of God, we have failed. We learn only that we might laud, which is to say that theology without doxology is idolatry. The only theology worth studying is a theology that can be sung!
Sam StormsRead
The mind we have when we practice zazen is the great mind: we don't try to see anything; we stop conceptual thinking; we stop emotional activity; we just sit. Whatever happens to us, we are not bothered. We just sit. It is like something happening in the great sky. Whatever kind of bird flies through it, the sky doesn't care. That is the mind transmitted from Buddha to us.
Shunryu SuzukiRead