Quotation about men and brothels?

February 14, 2008 10:42 AM

Famous old quotation about men, whorehouses and shame?

I used to know it, or at least who said it. I think it may have been someone French, some sort of long-dead intellectual not primarily known for his debauchery, who said something like:

"In each man's life there comes a moment when he must face the shame of exiting a whorehouse in the morning"

or

"No purer shame be there for any man than to stumble home in the morning from a whorehouse"

that kind of thing. Any ideas?

posted by gelcap to Society & Culture (4 answers total)

It's not very close, but this quotation from John Randolph is the closest I could find. The pertinent excerpt:

The ricketty and scrofulous little wretch who first sees the light in a work-house, or in a brothel, and who feels the effects of alcohol before the effects of vital air, is not equal in any respect to the ruddy offspring of the honest yeoman; nay, I will go further, and say that a prince, provided he is no better born than royal blood will make him, is not equal to the healthy son of a peasant.

posted by cerebus19 at 11:51 AM on February 14, 2008

Best answer: Possibly Flaubert, who wrote: "That man has missed something who has never left a brothel at sunrise feeling like throwing himself into the river out of pure disgust."
posted by Mr. Justice at 2:27 PM on February 14, 2008 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Bingo! Thank you, Mr. Justice!
posted by gelcap at 3:58 PM on February 14, 2008

Now the question is, can this be reworked to involve Craigslist Personals somehow.
posted by softlord at 11:57 AM on February 16, 2008