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

I don't know what the heart is, not I: I only use the word to denote the mind's frailties.

Consider the problem from the point of view of evil, evil being almost always pleasure's true and major charm; considered thus, the crime must appear greater when perpetrated upon a being of your identical sort than when inflicted upon one which is not, and this once established, the delight automatically doubles.

My passions, concentrated on a single point, resemble the rays of a sun assembled by a magnifying glass: they immediately set fire to whatever object they find in their way.

Crime is to the passions what nervous fluid is to life: it sustains them, it supplies their strength.

Certain souls may seem harsh to others, but it is just a way, beknownst only to them, of caring and feeling more deeply.

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 for others!