Quotes By Marquis De Sade

Social order at the expense of liberty is hardly a bargain.

There is no God, Nature sufficeth unto herself; in no wise hath she need of an author.

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?

The idea of God is the sole wrong for which I cannot forgive mankind.

The ultimate triumph of philosophy would be to cast light upon the mysterious ways in which Providence moves to achieve the designs it has for man.

So long as the laws remain such as they are today, employ some discretion: loud opinion forces us to do so; but in privacy and silence let us compensate ourselves for that cruel chastity we are obliged to display in public.

There is no more lively sensation than that of pain; its impressions are certain and dependable, they never deceive as may those of the pleasure women perpetually feign and almost never experience.

Your body is the church where Nature asks to be reverenced.

Religions are the cradles of despotism.

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.

One weeps not save when one is afraid, and that is why kings are tyrants.

Variety, multiplicity are the two most powerful vehicles of lust.