Considering how delightful sexual intercourse can be it is quite extraordinary how many people have been eager to condemn it. For now we will content ourselves with one secular condemnation. The German philosopher, Schopenhauer reckoned that sex was "an act which on sober reflection one recalls with repugnance, and in a more elevated mood even with disgust." This parallels the view of W. T. Stead who saw the act as "monstrously indecent" and who wondered how two self-respecting people could face each other after performing it."