Albert Moll

“ In Un Coeur Simple, Flaubert describes the development of the love-sentiments. "For mankind there is so much love in life. At the age of four we love horses, the sun, flowers, shining weapons, uniforms; at ten we love a little girl, our playmate; at thirteen we love a buxom, full-necked woman. The first time I saw the two breasts of a woman, entirely unclothed, I almost fainted. Finally, at the age of fourteen or fifteen, we love a young girl, who is a little more to us than a sister and a little less than a mistress; and then, at sixteen, we love a woman once more, and marry her." ”

“ The person who is to effect the sexual enlightenment must possess, not merely a theoretical knowledge of the processes of sex, but also the faculty of making these processes intelligible at the right moment and in the right way. But how is the school physician or the schoolmaster to know, in individual cases, the degree to which the sexual life has developed? He must have definitely abandoned the old view that either the child's age in years or the external physical signs of puberty can be regarded as indicating with any degree of precision the progress of psychosexual puberty. ”

“ The grave danger of allowing an unsuitable person to undertake the sexual enlightenment is obvious from the existence of those persons who teach that homosexual inclinations occurring in children indicate that they are permanently homosexual--a view which, as has been shown, is utterly erroneous. But let us suppose that one who holds such a doctrine is the person who has undertaken the sexual enlightenment of a child, and we can hardly doubt what the result will be, namely, to foster homosexuality. ”

“ It would be evasive to shirk mention of the fact that many of the most devoted servants of health and morals object to public discussion of the facts of sex. They discard enlightenment about sex as relatively unimportant because a clean ancestry, decency in the family and neighborhood, and noble needs in friendship, love, and marriage must, in any case, be the main roots of healthy direction and ideal restraint of the sex-instinct. Or they fear enlightenment as a possible stimulus to undesirable imagination and experimentation. ”

“ In our own experience one accused of such offences rarely escapes conviction. He is hardly ever spared the terrible ordeal of examination and cross-examination. On all hands we hear the loud complaints of such persons, declaring that they have been wrongfully condemned." My own experience in the law courts leads me to accept these statements without reserve, and I regard as one of the gravest scandals of our present penal system the ease with which a girl who makes a pretty curtsy to the court, and who appears to be shamefaced when giving her evidence, is believed by the judge or magistrate. ”

“ Young house-sparrows and hedge-sparrows not only chatter and swear at one another like the full-grown birds at pairing time, but also like the latter the young birds distend their throats, let their wings droop, peck at one another, and in fact behave as exactly as they will next spring when fully grown. Young linnets also begin to sing before losing their youthful plumage, learn to sing well during the moulting season, and often continue to warble right on into the winter ”

“ For wounds or death he may despise, Who helps his side to win the day. And as the factions join in strife, They shout amid the battle's din; Fighting as if for very life, Each one will do his best to win. Each hopes the victory to gain; Each would the bravest warrior prove. Hurrah! they cry, and each is fain To win bright glances from his love."
As I have previously explained, the existence of sexual perversions may sometimes be traced back into early childhood, although, in individual cases, the experiences of childhood may throw little light on the subsequent sexual life. ”

“ I am led to this conviction by my experience that at the time when the process of sexual ripening begins, a child does not usually possess an adequate sense of the dangers of such malpractices. I am certainly afraid that nothing we can do will greatly lessen the prevalence of masturbation among children, I would rather venture to hope for a diminution in the prevalence of venereal diseases, as a result of the newer methods of sexual enlightenment; but even here there will be many cases in which passion will gain the victory over all possible prudential considerations. ”

“ A boy is tortured by its pangs when he sees his much-loved friend conversing with another. A girl of ten may suffer from sleepless nights when the governess she loves has spoken affectionately to another girl. A child may wait for hours before the door or in the neighbourhood of the beloved person, simply to snatch a glance in passing. Speaking generally, it appears to me that children are jealous of adults to a less extent than they are jealous of children of their own age.
Very frequently even in childhood sexuality gives rise to enduring imaginative sexual activity. ”

“ I refer to the religious education which has an internal reality, and arises spontaneously out of the demands of morality. I do not mean the sort of education which regards it as almost a disgrace that we come naked into the world; not the religious education which regards man as soiled by the fact that he is born from his mother's womb; nor that which considers every sexual act as essentially sinful, and asceticism as man's salvation. It is not religious education of such a kind that will have any good effect in the matter of sexual education ”

“ Moreover, if the mother devotes a great deal of time and pains to the personal care of her child, this has, in the case of a boy, the great advantage of inculcating a greater respect for the female sex in general than is apt to be found in boys to-day. I consider this last-mentioned point to be one of the utmost importance in relation to the sexual enlightenment, for only in such a way can the boy when grown to manhood be led instinctively to refrain from the seduction of girls--with all the misery which such a course usually involves for the victims. ”

“ The youthful knight seeks in every possible way to become pleasing to the girl of his choice, and to exhibit to her every attention in his power. He does all this, not merely in imitation of the conduct of grown-up persons, but for the gratification of his own impulses. Sometimes we are able to observe the changes of mood that occur in the child when the loved one is present or absent. The boy bubbles over with joy when the girl he loves draws near; sorrow and depression overwhelm him when the hour of parting is at hand. All kinds of fetichistic sentiments are also met with even in childhood. ”

“ A classical education, too, gives so many opportunities for the sight or the mention of the nude--for instance, delineations of the gods of the ancient mythology--that the demands of the "morality-fanatics" could be met only by cutting off the child from the most beautiful sources of culture. But now, let those who, in the lower classes of our schools, have seen in the text-books of mythology pictures of unclad gods and goddesses, seriously ask themselves whether in this connexion they ever experienced even the faintest uncleanness of thought! ”

“ Especially when himself unaware that his interest is sexual, he looks out for every merit she may possibly possess, in order that his fondness may be justified. Her untruthfulness is transfigured as caution and cleverness; her vanity becomes neatness; idleness is excused on the ground that she has to attend to more important duties; and the boy regards his interest in the girl as exclusively friendly in character, and as justified by her superlative excellences. Sometimes, in children no less than in adults, a sexual inclination masquerades as an educational interest. ”

“ I myself do not believe that children are more moral in the country, or that they here remain longer uncorrupted than in towns, whether large or small. Nor is it proved that in former times the country possessed any advantage in these respects, as compared with our own days and with the modern town. The entire fable of rural innocence appears to rest, not upon an actual comparison between town and country, but rather upon the more lively interest felt in town life, and especially in the life of the great towns: in towns, immorality has been more carefully studied and more often described ”

“ But I have also been present at trials in which no such precautions were taken, but in which every child was allowed to hear all the uncleanness in the evidence of the other children, and perhaps also in that of adults. Knowledge of the world, and, above all, tact, will best save the judge from treating children wrongly in this matter. The way in which a trial is conducted, which is often an extremely mechanical one, will not always enable the judge to avail himself of the means requisite for the protection of children from contamination in the course of such a prosecution. ”

“ I have myself on several occasions been asked by parents with a proper care for the future morality and health of their children, to undertake the necessary enlightenment of these latter. I am absolutely convinced that when the child has complete trust in the person who effects the enlightenment, the explanation of everything is fully possible. In this book, I have more than once proved that a description of sexual intercourse, appealing as it does rather to the intellectual side of the child's mind, need have no bad influence at all upon its emotional life ”

“ It will readily be understood that the performance upon children of sexual acts is a very serious matter for the children themselves, especially as affecting their sexual morality. It is true that in many instances paedophilia does not entail any consequences for the child, which completely fails to understand that it has been made use of for perverse purposes. The offender may know how to mask his actions, so that even a third person who is looking on may detect nothing more than tender caresses, and may remain altogether unaware of the existence of any sexual excitement. ”

“ We must educate children, boys as well as girls, in the belief that to mishandle the genital organs is forbidden alike by divine and by human law. But we must not teach them to regard the sexual act as in itself disgusting; more especially in view of the fact that such an idea conflicts with the lofty ethical significance of the act to which we all owe our existence.
What has been said about nakedness, has bearings also upon the relationships of the education of children to the matter of the nude in art. No intelligent person will deny the importance to art of the representation of the nude. ”

“ When children are properly educated, there is reason to hope that sexual matters will be less often treated in an obscene spirit than is the case to-day. Nor need we fear, when such education becomes the rule, that every allusion to sexual things may involve dangers to the child. Precisely because the sexual life will then be known to the child in a natural way, will there be less reason to dread the deliberate cultivation by children of sexual topics of conversation. ”

“ We have seen that long-continued and excessive masturbation is dangerous to health; now every voluntary action, and every action that is commonly believed to be voluntary, the effects of which are injurious to body or to mind, is considered to be immoral, unless it is performed in pursuit of some lofty aim—as, for instance, in the case of the doctor who exposes himself to some deadly infection for the sake of his patient's welfare. But these reasons do not suffice to account for the fact that masturbation is commonly regarded as a more immoral act than illegitimate sexual intercourse. ”

“ The objection need not be raised that the sexual enlightenment would not safeguard a girl, since, when she gives herself to a man, a girl knows well enough that children are the result of sexual intercourse. The objection is unsound, if we only have a right understanding of what we mean by sexual enlightenment, and if at the same time we do not neglect the general sexual education. Enlightenment should not be limited to merely making the person concerned aware of the consequences of sexual acts ”

“ As if potency in intercourse with an experienced prostitute, skilled in all the tricks of her trade, were a proof that the bridegroom will prove sexually potent in intercourse with a chaste woman; or as if, on the other hand, the fact that a man proves impotent when he attempts intercourse with a prostitute whose embraces are repulsive to him, were in any sense whatever a proof that the same man will fail to effect intercourse with the woman he loves. ”

“ When we see a young woman bearing a new life in her womb, owing her position it may be to all the subtle arts of the seducer, and note how cruelly she is treated by the law and what scorn and contempt are poured upon her by society and by the individual, we cannot fail to welcome most heartily the movement for the Protection of Motherhood (Mutterschutzbewegung) which has recently made such progress in Germany. ”

“ A lady of the nobility, president, perhaps, of a Ladies' Society for the Promotion of Public Morals, may regard the short skirts of a music-hall dancer as the acme of impropriety, and yet will not hesitate for a moment to go into society in the evening in a low dress, with her breasts plainly visible to anyone standing by her when she is seated. ”