...it is not for the illusion of a moment to govern the choice of a lifetime.

It was there, in particular, that I confirmed the truth that love, which we cry up as the source of our pleasures, is nothing more than an excuse for them.

Marquise de Merteuil: I've distilled every thing to one single principle: win or die.

Humanity is not perfect in any fashion; no more in the case of evil than in that of good. The criminal has his virtues, just as the honest man has his weaknesses.

When one woman strikes at the heart of another, she seldom misses, and the wound is invariably fatal.

I am astonished at the pleasure one experiences in doing good; and I should be tempted to believe that what we call virtuous people have not so much merit as they lead us to suppose.

Don't you remember that love, like medicine, is only the art of encouraging nature?