"There were either twelve sexes or none."

Question

There were either twelve sexes or none.

It's a sentence I still remember, from a book or a short story, and I'm guessing it was published before the turn of the century (i.e. 1900's). The main character is explaining to the reader what he knows so far about a species he is observing and I believe is even living amongst.

That's all I've got. I know it's thin, but I think it is so distinctive, and I have a hunch what I was reading was probably so well known, that someone will likely recognize it quickly.

Answer 1

Assuming you got the number wrong, it's Robert Silverberg's The Man in the Maze:

“The Hydrans,” he said, “have either five sexes or none, I'm not sure which. That's a measure of how well I got to know them while I was there. However they do it, I think people have more fun. Why are you standing over there, Marta?”

The context is that Muller (the main character) has just returned to earth after five months on Hydra, and he addresses this line to his lover Marta as she undresses.

_{Since you seemed adamant about the exact phrasing, but "twelve sexes or none" turned up no results on a web search, I tried successively lower numbers: searching the exact phrases "eleven sexes or none", "ten sexes or none", and so on, until I found the right one.}