The reasoning man who scorns the prejudices of simpletons necessarily becomes the enemy of simpletons; he must expect as much, and laugh at the inevitable. Marquis de Sade More Quotes by Marquis de Sade More Quotes From Marquis de Sade Wolves which batten upon lambs, lambs consumed by wolves, the strong who immolate the weak, the weak victims of the strong: there you have Nature, there you have her intentions, there you have her scheme: a perpetual action and reaction, a host of vices, a host of virtues, in one word, a perfect equilibrium resulting from the equality of good and evil on earth. Marquis de Sade strongevilperfect Behold, my love, behold all that I simultaneously do: scandal, seduction, bad example, incest, adultery, sodomy! Oh, Satan! one and unique God of my soul, inspire thou in me something yet more, present further perversions to my smoking heart, and then shalt thou see how I shall plunge myself into them all! Marquis de Sade uniquesmokingheart God strung up his own son like a side of veal. I shudder to think what he would do to me. Marquis de Sade religioussonthinking What does one want when one is engaged in the sexual act? That everything around you give you its utter attention, think only of you, care only for you...every man wants to be a tyrant when he fornicates. Marquis de Sade mensexthinking She had already allowed her delectable lover to pluck that flower which, so different from the rose to which it is nevertheless sometimes compared, has not the same faculty of being reborn each spring. Marquis de Sade flowerrosespring If Nature denies eternity to beings, it follows that their destruction is one of her laws. Now, once we observe that destruction is so useful to her that she absolutely cannot dispense with it from this moment onward the idea of annihilation which we attach to death ceases to be real what we call the end of the living animal is no longer a true finish, but a simple transformation, a transmutation of matter. According to these irrefutable principles, death is hence no more than a change of form, an imperceptible passage from one existence into another. Marquis de Sade realsimpledeath The imagination is the spur of delights... all depends upon it, it is the mainspring of everything; now, is it not by means of the imagination one knows joy? Is it not of the imagination that the sharpest pleasures arise? Marquis de Sade imaginationjoymean 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 to suit other people! My manner of thinking stems straight from my considered reflections; it holds with my existence, with the way I am made. It is not in my power to alter it; and were it, I'd not do so. Marquis de Sade foolreflectionthinking All universal moral principles are idle fancies. Marquis de Sade fancymoralprinciples Happiness lies neither in vice nor in virtue; but in the manner we appreciate the one and the other, and the choice we make pursuant to our individual organization. Marquis de Sade organizationhappinesslying It has, moreover, been proven that horror, nastiness, and the frightful are what give pleasure when one fornicates. Beauty is a simple thing; ugliness is the exceptional thing. And fiery imaginations, no doubt, always prefer the extraordinary thing to the simple thing. Marquis de Sade imaginationsimplebeauty Are your convictions so fragile that mine cannot stand in opposition to them? Is your God so illusory that the presence of my Devil reveals his insufficiency? Marquis de Sade insufficiencyconvictiondevil The debility to which Nature condemned women incontestably proves that her design is for man, who then more than ever enjoys his strength, to exercise it in all the violent forms that suit him best, by means of tortures, if he be so inclined, or worse. Marquis de Sade exercisemenmean No kind of sensation is keener and more active than that of pain its impressions are unmistakable. Marquis de Sade impressionpainkind And if I were a naughty little boy, the idea is to spank me into good behavior? Marquis de Sade naughtyboysideas Nature has endowed each of us with a capacity for kindly feelings: let us not squander them on others. Marquis de Sade capacityfeelings Lust's passion will be served; it demands, it militates, it tyrannizes. Marquis de Sade demandpassionlust The man who alters his way of thinking to suit others is a fool. Marquis de Sade menwaythinking I think that if there were a God, there would be less evil on this earth. I believe that if evil exists here below, then either it was willed by God or it was beyond His powers to prevent it. Now I cannot bring myself to fear a God who is either spiteful or weak. I defy Him without fear and care not a fig for his thunderbolts. Marquis de Sade evilbelievethinking Evil is... a moral entity and not a created one, an eternal and not a perishable entity: it existed before the world; it constituted the monstrous, the execrable being who was also to fashion such a hideous world. It will hence exist after the creatures which people this world Marquis de Sade fashionevilpeople
