Valmont Quotes

“There is no longer any happiness for me, no longer any peace but in the possession of this woman whom I love and hate with equal fury. I cannot tolerate my life until hers is again mine to dispose of. Then, contented and calm, I shall see her in turn buffeted by the storms that assail me now, and I shall stir up a thousand others too. I want hope and fear, faith and suspicion, all the evils devised by hate and all the blessings conferred by love, to fill her heart and to succeed one another there at my will.”
― Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, Les Liaisons dangereuses

“Je ne me rappelle jamais sans plaisir le temps où vous m'honoriez de noms plus doux. Souvent même je désire de les mériter de nouveau, et de finir par donner, avec vous, un exemple de constance au monde. Mais de plus grands intérêts nous appellent ; conquérir est notre destin ; il faut le suivre : peut-être au bout de la carrière nous rencontrerons-nous encore.”
― Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, Les Liaisons dangereuses

“Ah ! croyez-moi, Vicomte, quand une femme frappe dans le cœur d'une autre, elle manque rarement de trouver l'endroit sensible, et la blessure est incurable.”
― Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, Les Liaisons dangereuses

“Dès ce moment, le doux espoir a remplacé la cruelle inquiétude. J'aurai cette femme, je l'enlèverai au mari qui la profane, j'oserai la ravir au Dieu même qu'elle adore.”
― Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, Les Liaisons dangereuses

“Oh yes, certainly her daughter must be seduced. But that will not be enough: she must be ruined too.”
― Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, Les Liaisons dangereuses

“Frightened of the peril she is courting, she would like to stop but cannot hold back. Care and skill can shorten the steps she takes: nothing can prevent them succeeding each other. Sometimes, unable to face the danger, she closes her eyes and lets herself go, putting her fate in my hands. More often some new fear rouses her to new efforts. In her mortal terror she tries once more to retreat, and exhausts her strength in regaining a little ground; but soon some magic power transplants her yet nearer the danger she has vainly attempted to fly.”
― Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, Les Liaisons dangerueses

“Our intentions make blackguards of us all; our weakness in carrying them out we call probity.”
― Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, Les Liaisons dangereuses

“What I blame myself for most, and what, nevertheless, I must tell you about, is that I am afraid I did not defend myself as well as I was able. I don't know how that happened. I most certainly am not in love with Monsieur de Valmont, quite the contrary: yet there were moments when it was as if I were.”
― Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, Les Liaisons dangereuses

“Valmont is quite another matter: difficult to keep, and dangerous to leave. He demands great skill, or, if you have none, great tractability.”
― Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, Les Liaisons dangereuses

“   'I can no longer endure my existence unless it is of use in making you happy. I devote myself entirely to that. From this moment on I am yours, and you will hear neither refusals nor regrets from my lips.' With such candour—naïve or sublime—did she give up her person and her charms, increasing my happiness by sharing it.”
― Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, Les Liaisons dangereuses