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1 " You may conquer her love of God: you will never overcome her fear of the devil. "
― Pierre Choderlos de Laclos , Les Liaisons dangereuses
2 " 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. "
3 " Don't you remember that love, like medicine, is only the art of encouraging nature? "
4 " When one woman strikes at the heart of another, she seldom misses, and the wound is invariably fatal. "
5 " How characteristic of your perverse heart that longs only for what happens to be out of reach. "
6 " 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 words for a woman to hear, and not so hard to earn. "
7 " Now, I'm not going to deny that I was aware of your beauty. But the point is, this has nothing to do with your beauty. As I got to know you, I began to realise that beauty was the least of your qualities. I became fascinated by your goodness. I was drawn in by it. I didn't understand what was happening to me. And it was only when I began to feel actual, physical pain every time you left the room that it finally dawned on me: I was in love, for the first time in my life. I knew it was hopeless, but that didn't matter to me. And it's not that I want to have you. All I want is to deserve you. Tell me what to do. Show me how to behave. I'll do anything you say. "
8 " It has become necessary for me to have this woman, so as to save myself from the ridicule of being in love with her: for to what lengths will a man not be driven by thwarted desire? "
9 " Will you, then, never grow weary of being unjust? "
10 " ...it is not for the illusion of a moment to govern the choice of a lifetime. "
11 " Truth to tell, the longer I live, the more I'm tempted to think that the only moderately worthwhile people in the world are you and I. "
12 " 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. "
13 " One must not permit oneself excesses, except with persons whom one wishes soon to leave. "
14 " Moreover it is easier, in the informality of conversation, to achieve that excitement and incoherence which is the true eloquence of love. "
15 " There isn't a woman who doesn't love the Perfect Man; In their wild dreams they see nothing but charms and virtues and gleefully deck out the men of their choice in all these qualities; but these glittering robes fit for a God often drape an abject model; but whatever he is, no sooner have they dressed him up than, dazzled by their own handiwork, they prostrate themselves to adore him. "
16 " I see you are already as timid as a slave: you might as well be in love. "
17 " You accuse her of being ill-dressed. I agree. Clothes don't become her. Everything that hides her, disfigures. It is in the freedom of dishabille that she is truly ravishing. "
18 " [Prévan] accordingly sought out these paragons of perfection. He was readily received into their society, and he took this for a favourable omen. He knew well enough that happy people are not so easy of access. "
19 " Certainly she must surrender but she must offer resistance; an opponent too weak to win but not too weak to put up a struggle. "
20 " La humanidad no es perfecta en ningún género, ni en lo malo ni en lo bueno. El malo suele tener sus virtudes y el hombre de bien sus debilidades. "
