If I can't enjoy the full and total happiness of love, then I want to drain its torments, its tortures to the dregs; then I want the woman I love to mistreat me, betray me, and the more cruelly the better. That too is a pleasure. Leopold von Sacher-Masoch More Quotes by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch More Quotes From Leopold von Sacher-Masoch You modern men, you children of reason, cannot begin to appreciate love as pure bliss and divine serenity. Leopold von Sacher-Masoch appreciatemenchildren Man is the one who desires, woman the one who is desired. This is woman's entire but decisive advantage. Through man's passions, nature has given man into woman's hands, and the woman who does not know how to make him her subject, her slave, her toy, and how to betray him with a smile in the end is not wise. Leopold von Sacher-Masoch womenpassionwise Love knows no virtue, no profit; it loves and forgives and suffers everything, because it must. It is not our judgment that leads us; it is neither the advantages nor the faults which we discover, that make us abandon ourselves, or that repel us. It is a sweet, soft, enigmatic power that drives us on. We cease to think, to feel, to will; we let ourselves be carried away by it, and ask not whither? Leopold von Sacher-Masoch sufferingsweetthinking Whoever allows himself to be whipped, deserves to be whipped. Leopold von Sacher-Masoch venus-in-furswisdomwise You know how to paint pleasure, cruelty, arrogance in glowing colors. Leopold von Sacher-Masoch glowingarrogancecolor You have corrupted my imagination and inflamed my blood. Leopold von Sacher-Masoch venus-in-fursimaginationblood Never feel safe with the woman you love, for a woman's nature conceals more dangers than you think. Leopold von Sacher-Masoch safedangerthinking Desire followed the glance, pleasure followed desire Leopold von Sacher-Masoch glancespleasuredesire Be then my slave, and know what it means to be delivered into the hands of a woman. Leopold von Sacher-Masoch slavemeanhands Nature admits of no permanence in the relation between man and woman. It is only man's egoism that wants to keep woman like some buried treasure. All endeavors to introduce permanence in love, the most changeable thing in this changeable human existence, have gone shipwreck in spite of religious ceremonies, vows, and legalities. Leopold von Sacher-Masoch marriagereligiousmen A real apple is more beautiful than a painted one, and a live woman is more beautiful than a Venus of stone. Leopold von Sacher-Masoch applesrealbeautiful The person who doesn't know how to subjugate will all too quickly feel the other's foot on the nape of his neck. Leopold von Sacher-Masoch necksfeetfeels Love knows no virtue, no merit; it loves and forgives and tolerates everything because it must. We are not guided by reason. Leopold von Sacher-Masoch meritforgivingvirtue People who want to live like Olympian gods must have slaves whom they throw into their fishponds and gladiators who fight during their masters sumptuous banquets-and the pleasure-seekers never care if some blood splatters on them. Leopold von Sacher-Masoch fightingbloodpeople It is merely the egoism of the man, who wants to bury a woman like a treasure. All attempts at using vows, contracts, and holy ceremonies have failed to bring permanence into the most changeable aspect of changeable human existence, namely love. Leopold von Sacher-Masoch treasurewantmen My husband's personality was filled with serenity and sunlight. Not even the incurable illness which fell upon him soon after our marriage could long cloud his brow. On the very night of his death he took me in his arms, and during the many months when he lay dying in his wheel chair, he often said jokingly to me: 'Well, have you already picked out a lover?' I blushed with shame. 'Don't deceive me,' he added on one occasion, 'that would seem ugly to me, but pick out an attractive lover, or preferably several. You are a splendid woman, but still half a child, and you need toys. Leopold von Sacher-Masoch husbandlovechildren You have a curious way of arousing one's imagination, stimulating all one's nerves, and making one's pulses beat faster. You put an aureole on vice, provided only if it is honest. Your ideal is a daring courtesan of genius. Oh, you are the kind of man who will corrupt a woman to her very last fiber. Leopold von Sacher-Masoch imaginationmenway There is no describing the feeling of being mistreated by a successful rival in front of the woman you worship. Leopold von Sacher-Masoch rivalssuccessfulfeelings A slap in the face is more effective than ten lectures. It makes you understand very quickly. Leopold von Sacher-Masoch slap-in-the-facelecturesfaces Now her eyes meet mine like green lightning-they are green, these eyes of hers, whose power is so indescribable-green, but as are precious stones, or deep unfathomable mountain lakes. Leopold von Sacher-Masoch precious-stoneseyelakes
