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All energy is of a sexual nature, not mainly, but exclusively, and when the animal is no longer good for reproducing, it is no longer good for anything; it is the same for men. When the sexual instinct is dead, writes Schonpenhauer, the true core of life is consumed; thus, he notes in a metaphor of terrifying violence, “human existence resembles a theater performance which, begun by living actors, is ended by automatons dressed in the same costumes.” I didn’t want to become an automaton, and it was this, that real presence, that taste for living life, as Dostoyevsky would have said, that Esther had  given back to me. What is the point of maintaining a body that no one touches? And why would you choose a nice hotel bedroom if you have to sleep there alone? I could only, like so many who had finally been defeated despite their sniggers and their grimaces, bow down: immense and admirable, undoubtedly, was the power of love.

From “The Possibility of an Island” by Michel Houellebecq

Now and then, I make an exception and feature a snippet by a foreign author. This one comes from a book that I read some time ago.  The French author Michel Houellebecq writes about a present society overindulged and satiated with pleasure.  The novel also beams the readers forward to a futuristic society that has sprouted from the radioactive ashes of a nuclear war.  In this snippet, the author makes some strong statements: “All energy is of a sexual nature, not mainly, but exclusively, and when the animal is no longer good for reproducing, it is no longer good for anything; it is the same for men.” Is this correct? Sex is wonderful. It might be the strongest source of energy. But it is not because of lust but rather because it often leads to love.  The hunter gets hunted. It is the best trap ever conceived by Mother Nature for the survival of the human species.  The author reaches the same conclusion:  “immense and admirable, undoubtedly, was the power of love.”

Men and women derive energy from various sources besides sex and love: ambition, power, money, fame, sense of duty—just to mention a few.