--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I should like to find a crime with…" description: "\"“I should like to find a crime with perpetual repercussions, which would continue even after I had ceased to act, so there would not be a single instan..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39c/marquis-de-sade-1964_crime_i-should-like-to-find-a-crime-with-perpe_1227687.jpg" --- # I should like to find a crime with perpetual… ![“I should like to find a crime with perpetual repercussions, which would continue even after I had ceased to act, so there would not be a single instant of my life, not even when I was asleep, when I would not be causing some sort of disorder, a disorder so extensive as to involve general…” quote by Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39c/marquis-de-sade-1964_crime_i-should-like-to-find-a-crime-with-perpe_1227687.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39c/marquis-de-sade-1964_crime_i-should-like-to-find-a-crime-with-perpe_1227687.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39c/marquis-de-sade-1964_crime_i-should-like-to-find-a-crime-with-perpe_1227687.jpg) > ““I should like to find a crime with perpetual repercussions, which would continue even after I had ceased to act, so there would not be a single instant of my life, not even when I was asleep, when I would not be causing some sort of disorder, a disorder so extensive as to involve general corruption, or so absolute a disturbance that its effect would be prolonged even when my life had ceased.”” [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The desire for an endless, unending impact reflects a fear of mortality and a craving for lasting influence beyond death. **In simple terms:** Seeking perpetual consequences to avoid being forgotten. Key Takeaway Consider the ethical limits of seeking legacy. Themes mortality legacy ethics Mood dark provocative Type philosophical controversial When to use this quote - political ambition - artistic creation - scientific discovery - personal reputation Key Concepts existentialism psychology of power Questions to Reflect On - Is it healthier to seek meaning within life? - What responsibilities come with seeking lasting impact? A Different Perspective Infinite repercussions are impossible; actions still end. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Crime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crime/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Repercussions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/repercussions/) ## Related quotes > [What I should like to find is a crime the effects of which would be perpetual, even when I myself do not act, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/what-i-should-like-to-find-is-a-crime-the-effects-of-which-would-be/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [I don't think there would be many jokes, if there weren't constant frustration and fear and so forth. It's a response to bad troubles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/i-don-t-think-there-would-be-many-jokes-if-there-weren-t-constant/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [Don't Shoot is a work of moral philosophy that reads like a crime novel - Immanuel Kant meets Joseph Wambaugh. It's a fascinating, inspiring,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-seabrook/don-t-shoot-is-a-work-of-moral-philosophy-that-reads-like-a-crime/) [John Seabrook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-seabrook/) > [“Nothing looks the same after a trip to the Congo. The world back home no longer makes sense. It is difficult to reconcile how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddharth-kara/nothing-looks-the-same-after-a-trip-to-the-congo-the-world-back-home/) [Siddharth Kara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddharth-kara/) > [I like crime movies where the crime is so incredible that, attractive as it seems, you don't wanna do it because it's just too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ice-t/i-like-crime-movies-where-the-crime-is-so-incredible-that-attractive/) [Ice T](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ice-t/) > [“Bedrooms are like crime scenes. So many clues to be uncovered.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/krystal-sutherland/bedrooms-are-like-crime-scenes-so-many-clues-to-be-uncovered/) [Krystal Sutherland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/krystal-sutherland/) > [“It's like a crime is an act that when you've committed one the act is over and you haven't changed inside. 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I grew up in Israel, where every unattended bag was a suspected bomb; when my family…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yochai-benkler/like-crime-terrorism-is-a-fact-of-life-i-grew-up-in-israel-where/) [Yochai Benkler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yochai-benkler/) > [Patrice: It's like a crime scene in my pants.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/no-strings-attached-movie/patrice-it-s-like-a-crime-scene-in-my-pants/) No Strings Attached (Movie > [Narco fiction novels have a reputation, at least here in Mexico among some of the writers I know, of being somewhat rushed productions, usually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francisco-goldman/narco-fiction-novels-have-a-reputation-at-least-here-in-mexico-among/) [Francisco Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francisco-goldman/) > [I make movies on gritty topics like crime, the underworld, and horror. I don't make movies with good-looking people in good-looking locales.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-gopal-varma/i-make-movies-on-gritty-topics-like-crime-the-underworld-and-horror-i/) [Ram Gopal Varma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-gopal-varma/) > [In families like mine, there is no crime worse than telling the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tara-westover/in-families-like-mine-there-is-no-crime-worse-than-telling-the-truth/) [Tara Westover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tara-westover/) > [“I guess not being ‘just like them’ is a crime.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-de-jong/i-guess-not-being-just-like-them-is-a-crime/) [Lisa De Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-de-jong/) > [I do like crime thriller stories. That's because these stories have a lot of layers. There are always three sides to such stories... there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pratik-gandhi/i-do-like-crime-thriller-stories-that-s-because-these-stories-have-a/) [Pratik Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pratik-gandhi/) ## More by Marquis de Sade > [What you call disorder is nothing else than one of the laws of the order you comprehend not and which you have erroneously named…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/what-you-call-disorder-is-nothing-else-than-one-of-the-laws-of-the/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [And if I were a naughty little boy, the idea is to spank me into good behavior?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/and-if-i-were-a-naughty-little-boy-the-idea-is-to-spank-me-into-good/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [There is a kind of pleasure which comes from sacrilege or the profanation of the objects offered us for worship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/there-is-a-kind-of-pleasure-which-comes-from-sacrilege-or-the/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [“To enlighten mankind and improve its morals is the only lesson which we offer in this story. In reading it, may the world discover…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/to-enlighten-mankind-and-improve-its-morals-is-the-only-lesson-which/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [What we are doing here is only the image of what we would like to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/what-we-are-doing-here-is-only-the-image-of-what-we-would-like-to-do/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [Happiness lies neither in vice nor in virtue; but in the manner we appreciate the one and the other, and the choice we make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/happiness-lies-neither-in-vice-nor-in-virtue-but-in-the-manner-we/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [What does one want when one is engaged in the sexual act? That everything around you give you its utter attention, think only of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/what-does-one-want-when-one-is-engaged-in-the-sexual-act-that/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [ The law which attempts a man's life \[capital punishment\] is impractical, unjust, inadmissible. It has never repressed crime--for a second crime is every day… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/the-law-which-attempts-a-man-s-life-capital-punishment-is-impractical/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [Between understanding and faith immediate connections must subsist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/between-understanding-and-faith-immediate-connections-must-subsist/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [My passions, concentrated on a single point, resemble the rays of a sun assembled by a magnifying glass: they immediately set fire to whatever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/my-passions-concentrated-on-a-single-point-resemble-the-rays-of-a-sun/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [The idea of God is the sole wrong for which I cannot forgive mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/the-idea-of-god-is-the-sole-wrong-for-which-i-cannot-forgive-mankind/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [Imperious, choleric, irascible, extreme in everything, with a dissolute imagination the like of which has never been seen, atheistic to the point of fanaticism,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/imperious-choleric-irascible-extreme-in-everything-with-a-dissolute/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [Lust's passion will be served; it demands, it militates, it tyrannizes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/lust-s-passion-will-be-served-it-demands-it-militates-it-tyrannizes/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [“In order to know virtue, we must acquaint ourselves with vice. Only then can we know the true measure of a man.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/in-order-to-know-virtue-we-must-acquaint-ourselves-with-vice-only/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [Never may an act of possession be exercised upon a free being; the exclusive possession of a woman is no less unjust than the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/never-may-an-act-of-possession-be-exercised-upon-a-free-being-the/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) [Explore all 181 Marquis de Sade quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) ## More Crime quotes > [Joking about violence is not funny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/perez-hilton/joking-about-violence-is-not-funny/) [Perez Hilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/perez-hilton/) > [“Crime and punishment can be summed up in two classifications: there are bad people and there are people who get into bad situations. 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I don't want to make the same mistakes the criminals do! ;)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/taking-notes-while-watching-forensic-files-and-snapped-i-don-t-want/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [A man could be a lover and defender of the wilderness without ever in his lifetime leaving the boundaries of asphalt, powerlines, and right-angled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/a-man-could-be-a-lover-and-defender-of-the-wilderness-without-ever-in/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Nations sometimes flourish by denying the crimes that brought them into being. Only when the original invasion, occupation, extermination or usurpation has been safely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/nations-sometimes-flourish-by-denying-the-crimes-that-brought-them/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [The danger that may really threaten (crime fiction) is that soon there will be more writers than readers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-barzun/the-danger-that-may-really-threaten-crime-fiction-is-that-soon-there/) [Jacques Barzun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-barzun/) > [“a crime to fell a tree and light it on fire, where coals of hardened shit warmed and stunk up homes,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-howey/a-crime-to-fell-a-tree-and-light-it-on-fire-where-coals-of-hardened/) [Hugh Howey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-howey/) > [A great read; an exciting, frightening account of organized crime today. 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