Each man's mode of speaking of the sexual relation proves how sacred his own relations of that kind are. We do not respect the mind that can jest on this subject.

I am made somewhat sad this afternoon by the coarseness and vulgarity of my companion, because he is one with whom I have made myself intimate.  He inclines latterly to speak with coarse jesting of facts which should always be treated with delicacy and reverence.  I lose my respect for the man who can make the mystery of sex the subject of a coarse jest, yet, when you speak earnestly and seriously on the subject, is silent.  I feel that this is to be truly irreligious.  Whatever may befall me, I trust that I shall never lose my respect for purity in others.  The subject of sex is one on which I do not wish to meet a man at all unless I can  meet him on the most inspiring ground,....if his view degrades, and does not elevate.  I would preserve purity in act and thought, as I would cherish the memory of my mother.  A companion can possess no worse quality than vulgarity.  If I find that he is not habitually reverent of the fact of sex, I, even I, will not associate with him.  I will cast the first stone.  What were life without some religion of this kind?  Can I walk with one who by his jests and by his habitual tone reduces the life of men and women to a level with that of cats and dogs?  The man who uses such a vulgar jest describes his relation to his dearest friend.  Impure that I am, I could protect and worship purity.  I can have no really serious conversation with my companion.  He seems not capable of it.  The men whom I most esteem, when they speak at all on this subject, do not speak with sufficient reverence. They speak to men with a coarseness which they would not use in the presence of women, and I think they would feel a slight shame if a woman coming in should hear their remarks.  A man's speech on this subject should, of course, be ever as reverent and chaste and simple as if it were to be heard  by the ears of maidens.   What can be the character of such mens' love?  It is ever the subject of a stale jest, though their health or dinner can be seriously considered.  The glory of the world can be seen only by a chaste mind.

This is the difference between lust and love: that this is fixed, that volatile. Love grows, lust wastes by enjoyment: And the reason is, that one springs from an union of souls, and the other from an union of sense.  Sex is a physical thing; love is a spiritual thing. To whomsoever this fact is not an awful but beautiful mystery, there are no flowers in nature. 

I am sure that the design of my maker when he has brought me nearest to woman was not the propagation, but the maturation, of the species.  Man is capable of a love of woman quite transcending marriage.  Does not the history of chivalry and knight-errantry suggest or point to another relation to woman than leads to marriage, yet an elevating and all-absorbing one.   As yet men know not one another, nor does man know woman.

The love of the sexes is initial, and symbolizes at a distance, the passion of the soul for that immense lake of beauty it exists to seek. Thus we are put in training for a love that knows not sex, nor partiality, but which seeks virtue and wisdom everywhere. That which is so beautiful and attractive as these relations are, must be succeeded and supplanted only by what is more beautiful,, and so on forever.

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