Pierre Choderlos De Laclos

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?

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.

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

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.

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.

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

How characteristic of your perverse heart that longs only for what happens to be out of reach.

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

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