Quote by John Ralston Saul

Venereal: From Venus, the goddess of love, this word refers to the reality of desire. With the rise of Protestantism and science, the word disease was tacked on in a revealing combination of categorization and moralizing. Which disease? The disease of love.

Venereal: From Venus, the goddess of love, this word refers

Summary

This quote highlights the origin and evolution of the word "venereal," which stems from the name of the goddess of love, Venus. It suggests that with the emergence of Protestantism and scientific understanding, the word "disease" was appended to "venereal" as a way of both categorizing and moralizing the concept. The quote posits that this labeling refers specifically to the "disease of love," implying that the desire and passion associated with love were considered problematic or even sinful by certain societal belief systems.

Topics

By John Ralston Saul

Liked the quote? Share it with your friends.

Random Quotations

With Ricky Gervais, it's all shades of wrong, it's my kind o

With Ricky Gervais, it's all shades of wrong, it's my kind of humor.

A new idea is like a child. It's easier to conceive than to

A new idea is like a child. It's easier to conceive than to deliver.

If one plays good music, people don't listen and if one play

If one plays good music, people don't listen and if one plays bad music people don't talk.

It was ideal apple-eating weather; the whitest sunlight desc

It was ideal apple-eating weather; the whitest sunlight descended from the purest sky, and an easterly wind rustled, without ripping loose, the last of the leaves on the Chinese elms. Autumns reward western Kansas for the evils at the remaining seasons impose: winter's rough Colorado winds and hip-high, sheep slaughtering snows; the slushes and the strange land fogs of spring; and summer, when even crows seek the puny shade, and the tawny infinitude of wheatstalks bristle, blaze.

When you've been raised in care, rap music isn't just about

When you've been raised in care, rap music isn't just about guns and sexism. They're talking about real things you can hang on to, problems of identity that you have sympathy with. It's not just about the music, with rap: when I was in care, it meant a whole lot more than that.

Samantha Morton

My kids will grow up in a house knowing that it's perfectly

My kids will grow up in a house knowing that it's perfectly normal for two men to be in love, it's perfectly normal for two women to be in love. My kids will grow up knowing it's all about love. It doesn't matter who you're with and everyone should have that experience.

Experience Men Love Women

Whatever we are waiting for -- peace of mind, contentment, g

Whatever we are waiting for -- peace of mind, contentment, grace, the inner awareness of simple abundance -- it will surely come to us, but only when we are ready to receive it with an open and grateful heart.Gratitude arises in that in-between space where the inner and outer worlds meet and touch and encompass each other. Authentic spirituality, genuine politics, and good economics arise from a spirit of radical gratitude.

Ellen Vaughn, Radical Gratitude

My favorite traditional Christmas movie that I like to watch

My favorite traditional Christmas movie that I like to watch is All Quiet on the Western Front. It's just not December without that movie in my house.

The best may slip, and even the most cautious fall; but he i

The best may slip, and even the most cautious fall; but he is more than human who errors not at all.

I have never advocated war except as a means of peace.

I have never advocated war except as a means of peace.

Ulysses S. Grant

My childhood should have taught me lessons for my own father

My childhood should have taught me lessons for my own fatherhood, but it didn't because parenting can only be learned by people who have no children.

The truth is often a terrible weapon of aggression. It is po

The truth is often a terrible weapon of aggression. It is possible to lie, and even murder with the truth.