Prejudice is the sole author of infamies: how many acts are so qualified by an opinion forged out of naught but prejudice!
Marquis de SadeNo kind of sensation is keener and more active than that of pain its impressions are unmistakable.
Marquis de SadeI've already told you: the only way to a woman's heart is along the path of torment. I know none other as sure.
Marquis de SadeIf the objects who serve us feel ecstacy, they are much more often concerned with themselves than with us, and our own enjoyment is consequently impaired. The idea of seeing another person experience the same pleasure reduces one to a kind of equality which spoils the unutterable charms that come from despotism.
Marquis de Sade