Variety, multiplicity are the two most powerful vehicles of lust. Marquis de Sade More Quotes by Marquis de Sade More Quotes From Marquis de Sade Are wars anything but the means whereby a nation is nourished, whereby it is strengthened, whereby it is buttressed? Marquis de Sade literature war mean No lover, if he be of good faith, and sincere, will deny he would prefer to see his mistress dead than unfaithful. Marquis de Sade infidelity faith love I am about to put foward some major ideas; they will be heard and pondered. If not all of them please, surely a few will; in some sort, then, I shall have contributed to the progress of our age, and shall be content. Marquis de Sade military war ideas Humane sentiments are baseless, mad, and improper; they are incredibly feeble; never do they withstand the gainsaying passions, never do they resist bare necessity. Marquis de Sade pity mad passion What you call disorder is nothing else than one of the laws of the order you comprehend not and which you have erroneously named disorder because its effects, though good for Nature, run counter to your convenience or jar your opinions. Marquis de Sade law running order Happiness is an abstraction, it is a product of the imagination, it is a way of being moved, which depends entirely on our way of seeing and feeling. Marquis de Sade imagination feelings way One weeps not save when one is afraid, and that is why kings are tyrants. Marquis de Sade tyrants fake-people kings 'Til the infallibility of human judgements shall have been proved to me, I shall demand the abolition of the penalty of death. Marquis de Sade penalties demand judgement Any enjoyment is weakened when shared. Marquis de Sade enjoyment Cruelty, very far from being a vice, is the first sentiment Nature injects in us all. Marquis de Sade cruelty vices firsts Is it not of the imagination that the sharpest pleasures arise? Marquis de Sade arise pleasure imagination Truth titillates the imagination far less than fiction. Marquis de Sade imagination literature fiction You say that my way of thinking cannot be tolerated? What of it? The man who alters his way of thinking to suit others is a fool. My way of thinking is the result of my reflections. It is part of my inner being, the way I am made. I do not contradict them, and would not even if I wished to. For my system, which you disapprove of, is also my greatest comfort in life, the source of all my happiness --- it means more to me than my life itself. Marquis de Sade All universal moral principles are idle fantasies. Marquis de Sade