To speak of morals in art is to speak of legislature in sex. Art is the sex of the imagination.

Nathan’s aphorism argues that imposing moral “legislation” on art misunderstands what art is and how it functions. Just as sexual desire resists being reduced to statutes and proprieties, artistic creation springs from impulse, fantasy, and appetite—forces that are often unruly, private, and noncompliant. By calling art “the sex of the imagination,” he frames art as the imagination’s most intimate, generative act: a realm where transgression, pleasure, and experimentation are intrinsic rather than aberrant. The line also reflects Nathan’s broader anti-censorship stance and his skepticism toward moralistic criticism that judges artworks primarily by their ethical “messages” instead of their aesthetic power.