Pierre Choderlos de Laclos

Humanity is not perfect in any fashion; no more in the case of evil than in that of good. The criminal has…

— Pierre Choderlos de Laclos

I shall possess this woman; I shall steal her from the husband who profanes her: I will even dare ravish her from…

— Pierre Choderlos de Laclos

“I perceive your lovers purely as the successors of Alexander the Great, incompetent joint rulers of an empire where I once ruled…

— Pierre Choderlos de Laclos

I assure you that the world is not so amusing as we imagined.

— Pierre Choderlos de Laclos

Either you have a rival or you don't. If you have one, you must please in order to be preferred to him,…

— Pierre Choderlos de Laclos

I am astonished at the pleasure one experiences in doing good; and I should be tempted to believe that what we call…

— Pierre Choderlos de Laclos

I can see that you're in love, but only in a very narrow sense. It's the love of someone that finds charms…

— Pierre Choderlos de Laclos

One must not permit oneself excesses, except with persons whom one wishes soon to leave.

— Pierre Choderlos de Laclos

“Like most intellectuals he is intensely stupid.”

— Pierre Choderlos de Laclos

A man enjoys the happiness he feels, a woman the happiness she gives.

— Pierre Choderlos de Laclos

There is no woman in the world who does not abuse the power she has been able to acquire.

— Pierre Choderlos De Laclos

“Will you, then, never grow weary of being unjust?”

— Pierre Choderlos de Laclos

Revenge is a dish that is best served cold.

— Pierre Choderlos de Laclos

All publicity is good publicity.

— Pierre Choderlos de Laclos

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

— Pierre Choderlos de Laclos

“Haven't you realized that pleasure, which is indeed certainly the one and only reason for the two sexes to come together, is…

— Pierre Choderlos de Laclos

Cast between the extremes of happiness and misfortune, uncertainty is a cruel torment.

— Pierre Choderlos de Laclos

“He'd call me false and faithless and I've always had a weakness for those two words; next to cruel, they're the nicest…

— Pierre Choderlos de Laclos

“Madame de Merteuil, though indeed a woman highly regarded, has perhaps only one fault: she overestimates her ability; she's a skilful driver…

— Pierre Choderlos de Laclos