Marquis de Sade Novelist
- Gender: Male
- Citizenship: France
- Born: Jun 2, 1740
- Died: Dec 2, 1814
Donatien Alphonse François de Sade, better known as the Marquis de Sade, was a French aristocrat, revolutionary politician, philosopher and writer, famous for his libertine sexuality. His works include novels, short stories, plays, dialogues and political tracts; in his lifetime some were published under his own name, while others appeared anonymously and Sade denied being their author. He is best known for his erotic works, which combined philosophical discourse with pornography, depicting sexual fantasies with an emphasis on violence, criminality and blasphemy against the Catholic Church. He was a proponent of extreme freedom, unrestrained by morality, religion or law. The words sadism and sadist are derived from his name.
Sade was incarcerated in various prisons and in an insane asylum for about 32 years of his life; 11 years in Paris, a month in the Conciergerie, two years in a fortress, a year in Madelonnettes, three years in Bicêtre, a year in Sainte-Pélagie and 13 years in the Charenton asylum. During the French Revolution he was an elected delegate to the National Convention. Many of his works were written in prison.
No lover, if he be of good faith, and sincere, will deny he would prefer to see his mistress dead than unfaithful.
faith & being good
What is more immoral than war?
war
'Til the infallibility of human judgements shall have been proved to me, I shall demand the abolition of the penalty of death.
death
Truth titillates the imagination far less than fiction.
imagination & truth
There is no God, Nature sufficeth unto herself in no wise hath she need of an author.
nature
Between understanding and faith immediate connections must subsist.
faith
The more defects a man may have, the older he is, the less lovable, the more resounding his success.
success
Happiness is ideal, it is the work of the imagination.
happiness, imagination & work
Destruction, hence, like creation, is one of Nature's mandates.
nature
To judge from the notions expounded by theologians, one must conclude that God created most men simply with a view to crowding hell.
God & men
Your body is the church where Nature asks to be reverenced.
fitness & nature
Nature has not got two voices, you know, one of them condemning all day what the other commands.
nature