---
title: "My soul knows my meat is doing bad things, and is embarrassed. But my… — Kurt Vonnegut Quote #139 | QuotesBy.net"
description: "My soul knows my meat is doing bad things, and is embarrassed. But my meat just keeps right on doing bad, dumb things.' — a quote by Kurt Vonnegut."
image: "https://quotesby.net/wp-content/themes/quotesby-editorial/assets/og-default.png"
---

> # My soul knows my meat is doing bad things, and is embarrassed. But my meat just keeps right on doing bad, dumb things.'

[Kurt Vonnegut](https://quotesby.net/Kurt-Vonnegut)\#139

[Human nature](https://quotesby.net/Kurt-Vonnegut/human-nature/)[Habits](https://quotesby.net/topics/habits/)[Self control](https://quotesby.net/topics/self-control/)[Shame](https://quotesby.net/topics/shame/)

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## About this quote

What does it mean?The speaker feels shame about their physical actions but lacks the power to stop them.In plain termsI know my body does bad things and I feel bad about it, but I can't stop.What can you take from it?Recognizing bad habits is hard without the ability to change them.

### Where it applies

- personal struggle
- addiction

### Putting it to work

- reflect on habits
- identify internal conflicts

### Questions to consider

- Why is self-control difficult?
- How do we reconcile desire and duty?

### Another view

It frames human behavior as a battle between mind and body.

## More from Kurt Vonnegut

1. > What is literature but an insider's newsletter about affairs relating to molecules, of no importance to anything in the Universe but a few molecules who have t…

[Permalink to quote \#138](https://quotesby.net/Kurt-Vonnegut/138/ "Permalink to quote 138")
2. > 'We're having a celebration, so all sorts of things have been said which are not true,' I said. 'That's how to act at a party.'

[Permalink to quote \#140](https://quotesby.net/Kurt-Vonnegut/140/ "Permalink to quote 140")
3. > Who is more to be pitied, a writer bound and gagged by policemen or one living in perfect freedom who has nothing more to say?

[Permalink to quote \#137](https://quotesby.net/Kurt-Vonnegut/137/ "Permalink to quote 137")

## Related quotes

1. > The Devil turns his back to a door that is shut.

[James Howell](https://quotesby.net/James-Howell)[James Howell quote \#6](https://quotesby.net/James-Howell/6/ "Permalink to quote 6")
2. > Every once in a while someone without a single bad habit gets caught.

[Kin Hubbard](https://quotesby.net/Kin-Hubbard)[Kin Hubbard quote \#15](https://quotesby.net/Kin-Hubbard/15/ "Permalink to quote 15")
3. > I like liquor - its taste and its effects - and that is just the reason why I never drink it.

[Thomas Jackson](https://quotesby.net/Thomas-Jackson)[Thomas Jackson quote \#15](https://quotesby.net/Thomas-Jackson/15/ "Permalink to quote 15")

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