Destruction, hence, like creation, is one of Nature’s mandates. Marquis de Sade
Lust is to the other passions what the nervous fluid is to life; it supports them all, lends strength to them all…ambition, cruelty, avarice, revenge, are all founded on lust. Marquis de Sade
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
Are wars…anything but the means whereby a nation is nourished, whereby it is strengthened, whereby it is buttressed? Marquis de Sade
Religions are the cradles of despotism. Marquis de Sade
Truth titillates the imagination far less than fiction. Marquis de Sade
‘Sex’ is as important as eating or drinking and we ought to allow the one appetite to be satisfied with as little restraint or false modesty as the other. Marquis de Sade
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
To judge from the notions expounded by theologians, one must conclude that God created most men simply with a view to crowding hell. Marquis de Sade
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
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
Sensual excess drives out pity in man. Marquis de Sade