Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
The author notes that the erotic world depicted is casual and physical, yet accepted without guilt.
In plain terms
Love here is mostly physical and one sided but not felt as bad.
What can you take from it?
Sensual pleasure can exist without moral condemnation.

Where it applies

  • literary analysis
  • discussing relationships
  • examining art

Putting it to work

  • critique
  • writing
  • discussion

Questions to consider

  • How do you judge physical relationships?
  • Is pleasure always innocent?

Another view

It may ignore the emotional complexity that often accompanies such interactions.

More from Constantine P. Cavafy

  1. He was a man who starts at a certain age with all signs showing that he's unable to produce anything of importance. And then, by refusing and refusing things w…

    Permalink to quote #18
  2. Cavafy's attitude toward the poetic vocation is an aristocratic one. His poets do not think of themselves as persons of great public importance and entitled to…

    Permalink to quote #20
  3. He has the strength (and of course the limitations) of the recluse, who, though not afraid of the world, always stands at a slight angle to it.

    Permalink to quote #17

Related quotes

  1. The notion is that if you want to welcome me with open arms, I'm afraid you're also going to have to welcome me with open legs. (February 4, 2002 interview by …

    Gene SimmonsGene Simmons quote #19
  2. Sonja: Sex without love is an empty experience! Boris: Yes, but as empty experiences go, it's one of the best!

    Woody AllenWoody Allen quote #34
  3. Masturbation is cheap, clean, convenient, and free of any possibility of wrongdoing - and you don't have to go home in the cold. But it's lonely.

    Robert A. HeinleinRobert A. Heinlein quote #102