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Quote by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch

Work

Venus in Furs

A classic work of literature that delves into the complex psychological interplay between a dominant male and a female dominatrix, examining the boundaries of consent and the nature of desire. more

Author

Leopold von Sacher-Masoch
Leopold von Sacher-Masoch

Leopold von Sacher-Masoch was an Austrian writer renowned for his exploration of masochism and sadomasochism in literature. His novel 'Venus in Furs' is a cornerstone of sadomasochistic fiction. Born on January 27, 1836, Sacher-Masoch's life was characterized by his complex personality and intense personal relationships, which frequently influenced his writing. more

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“There are many stories and accounts about the winners of lotteries who are jubilant when they win, but whose lives descend into a nightmare after acquiring that unearned money. (No challenge, no skill.) Thelottery looks like "the answer" to people because they associate money with pleasure. But the true enjoyment of money comes in part from the earning of it, which involves skill and challenge. Watching television is usually done for pleasure. That's why so few people can remember (or make use of) any of the 30 hours of television they have watched in the past week.”

“My confessions did nothing to alter this situation, but for the first time in my life I felt that somebody actually knew me. Three somebodies, to be exact. Two were roaming the highway in a Cadillac, doing God knows what with a CB radio, but the other was as close to me as my own skin, and I could now feel the undiluted pleasure of her company.”

“The overwhelming noise we live with has made a fundamental pleasure like sex somehow less exciting, less satisfying, than it was for our libidinous forefathers and mothers. It seems to me that for sex and other pleasures to be enjoyed to the fullest, a certain contemplative quality to life must be present. If you doubt this imagine yourself for a moment having sex. Now imagine you wished to increase the pleasure you were feeling, feel it more intensely. What might you do? Well one of the things you'd probably do is close your eyes. What this does of course is shut out other stimuli. The visual quiet increases your sensual enjoyment and you concentrate more fully on the pleasure. The same is true for the removal of auditory noise as well. Well my feeling is that the average person has a much harder time doing this today than they would have decades ago. Today you close your eyes and shut off Television but the noise persists. It's part of our fabric now, our biology, and all other pleasures including sex are diminished as a result. We don't notice this derogation by the way and sex still feels great, don't get me wrong, but I think the difference is there nonetheless. Like the difference between seeing breasts when you're thirty as opposed to when you were thirteen.”