Marquis de Sade Quotes
Wolves which batten upon lambs, lambs consumed by wolves, the strong who immolate the weak, the weak victims of the strong: there you have Nature, there you have her intentions, there you have her scheme: a perpetual action and reaction, a host of vices, a host of virtues, in one word, a perfect equilibrium resulting from the equality of good and evil on earth.
Sade, Marquis de. Justine, Philosophy in the Bedroom, and Other Writings. Translated by Richard Seaver and Austryn Wainhouse, Grove Press, 1965.
This is one of the best short quotations about the conflict between freedom and equality or fairness. Economically, if large companies and monopolies are totally free and unregulated, they often prey upon the small companies and consumers and the community in general. Regulation restricts the freedom of the regulated entities and inhibits investment and growth.
Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade, was a French nobleman, revolutionary politician, philosopher and writer famous for his libertine sexuality. His works include novels, short stories, plays, dialogues, and political tracts. He was a proponent of absolute freedom, unrestrained by morality, religion, or law. The words sadism and sadist are derived in reference to the works of fiction he wrote which portrayed numerous acts of sexual cruelty.
