Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
The speaker reacts violently to a book they consider obscene, asserting control over what enters their home.
In plain terms
I returned a vile book because I won't allow such filth in my house.
What can you take from it?
People often try to enforce moral standards by controlling their environment.

Where it applies

  • censoring media
  • domestic disputes
  • moral crusades

Putting it to work

  • curate your environment
  • set boundaries
  • express values

Questions to consider

  • Who gets to decide what is 'filth'?
  • How do we balance taste and morality?

Another view

Judging others' tastes as filthy can lead to isolation and intolerance.

More from Tennessee Williams

  1. Why you're not crippled, you just have a little defect - hardly noticeable, even! When people have some slight disadvantage like that, they cultivate other thi…

    Permalink to quote #10
  2. Every time you come in yelling that God damn 'Rise and Shine!' 'Rise and Shine!' I say to myself, 'How lucky dead people are!'

    Permalink to quote #12
  3. I know so well what becomes of unmarried women who aren't prepared to occupy a position. I've seen such pitiful cases in the South - barely tolerated spinsters…

    Permalink to quote #9

Related quotes

  1. If we can't stamp out literature in the country, we can at least stop its being brought in from outside.

    Evelyn WaughEvelyn Waugh quote #1
  2. A venial sin of your own is a greater obstacle to your experiencing the love of Jesus Christ than the sin of anyone else, however great it may be. It is clear,…

    Walter HiltonWalter Hilton quote #1
  3. We had a dim premonition that power-mad gangsters would one day use art itself as a way of deadening men's minds.

    Hans ArpHans Arp quote #1