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
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.
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
All quotes →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
Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than going to a garage makes you an automobile.
Billy SundayRead
We have become indifferent to content, and react, not even to form, but to technique, to technical efficiency itself.
Czeslaw MiloszRead
Except a man be born again, he will wish one day he had never been born at all.
J. C. RyleRead
Idleness, pleasure, what abysses! To do nothing is a dreary course to take, be sure of it. To live idle upon the substance of society! To be useless, that is to say, noxious! This leads straight to the lowest depth of misery.
Victor HugoRead
We . . . must try to live without causing unnecessary harm, not just to fellow humans but to all beings. We must try not to be stingy, or to exploit others. There will be enough pain in the world as it is.
Gary SnyderRead
My VIP patients often regret so many things on their deathbeds. They regret the bitterness they'll leave in people's hearts. They realize the no money, no church service, no eulogy, no funeral procession no matter how elaborate, can remove the legacy of a mean spirit.
Abraham VergheseRead