My manner of thinking, so you say, cannot be approved. Do you suppose I care? A poor fool indeed is he who adopts a manner of thinking for others! Marquis de Sade More Quotes by Marquis de Sade More Quotes From Marquis de Sade It is certain that stealing nourishes courage, strength, skill, tact, in a word, all the virtues useful to a republican system and consequently to our own. Lay partiality aside, and answer me: is theft, whose effect is to distribute wealth more evenly, to be branded as a wrong in our day, under our government which aims at equality? Plainly, the answer is no. Marquis de Sade governmentskillsanswers It requires only two things to win credit for a miracle: a mountebank and a number of silly women. Marquis de Sade atheistwinningsilly Never lose sight of the fact that all human felicity lies in man's imagination, and that he cannot think to attain it unless he heeds all his caprices. The most fortunate of persons is he who has the most means to satisfy his vagaries. Marquis de Sade menmeanlying It is not my mode of thought that has caused my misfortunes, but the mode of thought of others. Marquis de Sade misfortunes-of-otherskinkyliterature Do not breed. Nothing gives less pleasure than childbearing. Pregnancies are damaging to health, spoil the figure, wither the charms, and it's the cloud of uncertainty forever hanging over these events that darkens a husband's mood. Marquis de Sade husbandcloudspregnancy Certain souls seem hard because they are capable of strong feelings, and they sometimes go to rather extreme lengths; their apparent unconcern and cruelty are but ways, known only to themselves, of feeling more strongly than others. Marquis de Sade strengthchangewisdom Destruction, hence, like creation, is one of Nature's mandates. Marquis de Sade creationnaturereality Man's natural character is to imitate; that of the sensitive man is to resemble as closely as possible the person whom he loves. It is only by imitating the vices of others that I have earned my misfortunes. Marquis de Sade sensitive-mancharactermen Nature has not got two voices, you know, one of them condemning all day what the other commands. Marquis de Sade commandvoicetwo What I should like to find is a crime the effects of which would be perpetual, even when I myself do not act, so that there would not be a single moment of my life even when I were asleep, when I was not the cause of some chaos, a chaos of such proportions that it would provoke a general corruption or a distubance so formal that even after my death its effects would still be felt. Marquis de Sade chaoscauseswould-be Are not laws dangerous which inhibit the passions? Compare the centuries of anarchy with those of the strongest legalism in any country you like and you will see that it is only when the laws are silent that the greatest actions appear. Marquis de Sade passionlawcountry Those laws, being forged for universal application, are in perpetual conflict with personal interest, just as personal interest is always in contradiction with the general interest. Good for society, our laws are very bad for the individuals whereof it is composed; for, if they one time protect the individual, they hinder, trouble, fetter him for three quarters of his life. Marquis de Sade conflictthreelaw The law which attempts a man's life [capital punishment] is impractical, unjust, inadmissible. It has never repressed crime - for a second crime is every day committed at the foot of the scaffold. Marquis de Sade lawfeetmen What do I see in the God of that infamous sect if not an inconsistent and barbarous being, today the creator of a world of destruction he repents of tomorrow; what do I see there but a frail being forever unable to bring man to heel and force him to bend a knee. This creature, although emanated from him, dominates him, knows how to offend him and thereby merit torments eternally! What a weak fellow, this God! Marquis de Sade religiousgodmen Certain souls may seem harsh to others, but it is just a way, beknownst only to them, of caring and feeling more deeply. Marquis de Sade caringsoulfeelings All, all is theft, all is unceasing and rigorous competition in nature; the desire to make off with the substance of others is the foremost - the most legitimate - passion nature has bred into us and, without doubt, the most agreeable one. Marquis de Sade competitionpassiondoubt Every principle is a judgment, every judgment the outcome of experience, and experience is only acquired by the exercise of the senses; whence it follows that religious principles bear upon nothing whatever and are not in the slightest innate. Ignorance and fear, you will repeat to them, ignorance and fear - those are the twin bases of every religion. Marquis de Sade ignorancereligiousfear Crime is to the passions what nervous fluid is to life: it sustains them, it supplies their strength. Marquis de Sade nervouscrimepassion The more defects a man may have, the older he is, the less lovable, the more resounding his success. Marquis de Sade birth-defectsmaymen Murder is a horror, but an often necessary horror, never criminal, which it is essential to tolerate in a republican State. Is it or is it not a crime? If it is not, why make laws for its punishment? And if it is, by what barbarous logic do you, to punish it, duplicate it by another crime? Marquis de Sade punishmentcriminalslaw
