Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
French novelist, official and army general
Pierre Ambroise François Choderlos de Laclos (18 October 1741 – 5 September 1803) was a French novelist, official and army general. He is chiefly remembered for his epistolary novel, Les liaisons dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons).
Quotes
editLes liaisons dangereuses (1782)
edit- Le succès, qui ne prouve pas toujours le mérite, tient souvent davantage au choix du sujet qu’à son exécution.
- Success, which is not always a proof of merit, depends more often on the choice of a subject than on its execution.
- Editor's Preface. Trans. P.W.K. Stone (1961). [1]
- This preface was written by Choderlos de Laclos in the guise of an editor.
- Success, which is not always a proof of merit, depends more often on the choice of a subject than on its execution.
- On peut citer de mauvais vers, quand ils sont d'un grand poète.
- One may quote bad poetry if it is by a great poet.
- Letter 4: Le Vicomte de Valmont to la Marquise de Merteuil. Trans. P.W.K. Stone (1961). [2]
- One may quote bad poetry if it is by a great poet.
- L'amour est, comme la médecine, seulement l'art d'aider à la nature.
- Love, like medicine, is only the art of encouraging nature.
- Letter 10: La Marquise de Merteuil to le Vicomte de Valmont. Trans. P.W.K. Stone (1961). [3]
- Love, like medicine, is only the art of encouraging nature.
- J’ai été étonné du plaisir qu’on éprouve en faisant le bien.
- I was astonished at the pleasure to be derived from doing good.
- Letter 21: Le Vicomte de Valmont to la Marquise de Merteuil. Trans. P.W.K. Stone (1961). [4]
- I was astonished at the pleasure to be derived from doing good.
- Le scélérat a ses vertus, comme l'honnête homme a ses faiblesses.
- The scoundrel has his good qualities, and the good man his weaknesses.
- Letter 32: Madame de Volanges to Madame la Présidente Tourvel. Trans. P.W.K. Stone (1961). [5]
- The scoundrel has his good qualities, and the good man his weaknesses.
- Une occasion manquée se retrouve, tandis qu’on ne revient jamais d’une démarche précipitée.
- An opportunity missed once will present itself again, whereas a too hasty action can never be recalled.
- Letter 33: La Marquise de Merteuil to le Vicomte de Valmont. Trans. P.W.K. Stone (1961). [6]
- An opportunity missed once will present itself again, whereas a too hasty action can never be recalled.
- On a toujours assez vécu, quand on a eu le temps d’acquérir l’amour des femmes et l’estime des hommes.
- One has lived long enough if one has had time to win the love of women and the esteem of men.
- Letter 79: Le Vicomte de Valmont to la Marquise de Merteuil. Trans. P.W.K. Stone (1961). [7]
- One has lived long enough if one has had time to win the love of women and the esteem of men.
- Une main occupée pour la force, l'autre pour l'amour, quel orateur pourrait prétendre à la grâce en pareille situation?
- One hand was needed for power, the other for love: where is the orator that could aspire to grace in such a position?
- Letter 96: Le Vicomte de Valmont to la Marquise de Merteuil. Trans. P.W.K. Stone (1961). [8]
- One hand was needed for power, the other for love: where is the orator that could aspire to grace in such a position?
- Le luxe absorbe tout: on le blâme, mais il faut l'imiter; et le superflu finit par priver du nécessaire.
- Luxury, nowadays, is ruinous. We criticize, but must conform, and superfluities in the end deprive us of necessities.
- Letter 104: La Marquise de Merteuil to Madame de Volanges. Trans. P.W.K. Stone (1961). [9]
- Luxury, nowadays, is ruinous. We criticize, but must conform, and superfluities in the end deprive us of necessities.
- La honte que cause l’amour est comme sa douleur: on ne l’éprouve qu’une fois. On peut encore la feindre après; mais on ne la sent plus. Cependant le plaisir reste, et c’est bien quelque chose.
- The shame love causes is like its pain; we only feel it once. We may feign it afterwards, but we do not feel it. However, the pleasure remains, and that is indeed something.
- Letter 105: La Marquise de Merteuil to Cécile Volanges. Trans. Richard Aldington (1924). [10]
- The shame love causes is like its pain; we only feel it once. We may feign it afterwards, but we do not feel it. However, the pleasure remains, and that is indeed something.
- L’homme jouit du bonheur qu’il ressent, et la femme de celui qu’elle procure. Cette différence, si essentielle et si peu remarquée, influe pourtant, d'une manière bien sensible, sur la totalité de leur conduite respective. Le plaisir de l’un est de satisfaire des désirs, celui de l’autre est surtout de les faire naître.
- Man enjoys the happiness he feels, woman the happiness she gives. This difference, so essential and yet so seldom noticed, has a marked difference on the whole of their respective behaviour. A man's pleasure is to satisfy desires, a woman's is chiefly to arouse them.
- Letter 130: Madame de Rosemonde to Madame la Présidente Tourvel. Trans. Richard Aldington (1924). [11]
- Man enjoys the happiness he feels, woman the happiness she gives. This difference, so essential and yet so seldom noticed, has a marked difference on the whole of their respective behaviour. A man's pleasure is to satisfy desires, a woman's is chiefly to arouse them.
- Pour les hommes, dites-vous vous-même, l'infidélité n'est pas l'inconstance.
- With men, you say yourself, infidelity is not inconstancy.
- Letter 139: Madame la Présidente Tourvel to Madame de Rosemonde. Trans. P.W.K. Stone (1961). [12]
- With men, you say yourself, infidelity is not inconstancy.
- Le ridicule qu’on a augmente toujours en proportion qu’on s’en défend.
- One's ridiculousness increases in proportion as one denies it.
- Letter 141: La Marquise de Merteuil to le Vicomte de Valmont. Trans. Richard Aldington (1924). [13]
- One's ridiculousness increases in proportion as one denies it.
- Ou vous avez un rival ou vous n'en n'avez pas. Si vous en avez un, il faut plaire pour lui être préféré; si vous n'en n'avez pas, il faut encore plaire pour éviter d'en avoir.
- Either you have a rival or you don't. If you have one, you must set out to please, so as to be preferred to him. If you don't have one, you must still please so as to obviate the possibility of having one.
- Letter 152: La Marquise de Merteuil to le Vicomte de Valmont. Trans. P.W.K. Stone (1961). [14]
- Either you have a rival or you don't. If you have one, you must set out to please, so as to be preferred to him. If you don't have one, you must still please so as to obviate the possibility of having one.
- On n'est heureux que par l'amour.
- Only love can make one happy.
- Letter 155: Le Vicomte de Valmont to le Chevalier Danceny. Trans. P.W.K. Stone (1961). [15]
- Only love can make one happy.
Misattributed
edit- La vengeance est un plat qui se mange froid.
- Revenge is a dish best eaten cold.
- Commonly said to be from Les liaisons dangereuses, but not found there.
- Revenge is a dish best eaten cold.
