QuoteProject
Imperious, choleric, irascible, extreme in everything, with a dissolute imagination the like of which has never been seen, atheistic to the point of fanaticism, there you have me in a nutshell, and kill me again or take me as I am, for I shall not change.
Marquis De Sade
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote reflects the unapologetic nature of an individual who embraces their extreme traits without the intention of changing for others.

In this quote, Marquis De Sade presents a self-portrait that encapsulates his extreme and unapologetic personality. He acknowledges his flaws and intense emotions while expressing a defiance against societal norms and a refusal to alter his essence for acceptance. The phrase suggests that one should either accept individuals as they are, with all their complexities, or not at all, highlighting the importance of authenticity and the acceptance of one's true self.

Themes

AuthenticitySelf-AcceptanceExtremesIndividualityDefiance

In practice

Example use cases

In a speech about individuality at a university event, one might quote this to stress the importance of being true to oneself.

More from 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 object they find in their way.
Marquis De SadeRead
So long as the laws remain such as they are today, employ some discretion: loud opinion forces us to do so; but in privacy and silence let us compensate ourselves for that cruel chastity we are obliged to display in public.
Marquis De SadeRead
Happiness is an abstraction, it is a product of the imagination, it is a way of being moved, which depends entirely on our way of seeing and feeling.
Marquis De SadeRead
Are your convictions so fragile that mine cannot stand in opposition to them? Is your God so illusory that the presence of my Devil reveals his insufficiency?
Marquis De SadeRead
The mechanism that directs government cannot be virtuous, because it is impossible to thwart every crime, to protect oneself from every criminal without being criminal too; that which directs corrupt mankind must be corrupt itself; and it will never be by means of virtue, virtue being inert and passive, that you will maintain control over vice, which is ever active: the governor must be more energetic than the governed.
Marquis De SadeRead
Prejudice is the sole author of infamies: how many acts are so qualified by an opinion forged out of naught but prejudice!
Marquis De SadeRead

Similar quotes

If you find yourself loving any pleasure more than your prayers, any book better than the Bible, any house better than the house of the Lord, any table better than the Lord's table, any persons better than Christ, or any indulgence better than the hope of heaven – be alarmed.
Thomas GuthrieRead
Minds are not conquered by force, but by love and high-mindedness.
Baruch SpinozaRead
Every new regulation concerning commerce or revenue; or in any manner affecting the value of the different species of property, presents a new harvest to those who watch the change and can trace its consequences; a harvest reared not by themselves but by the toils and cares of the great body of their fellow citizens. This is a state of things in which it may be said with some truth that laws are made for the few not for the many.
James MadisonRead
My only fear is that I may live too long. This would be a subject of dread to me.
Thomas JeffersonRead
Who has fully realized that history is not contained in thick books but lives in our very blood?
Carl JungRead
Greed's worst point is its ingratitude.
Seneca The YoungerRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.