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The law which attempts a man's life [capital punishment] is impractical, unjust, inadmissible. It has never repressed crime—for a second crime is every day committed at the foot of the scaffold.

— Marquis de Sade Philosophy in the Bedroom (1795)

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More quotes by Marquis de Sade

Theft is only punished because it violates the right of property; but this right is itself nothing in origin but theft.

Juliette (1797)

A person must have lost his mind to believe in God.

Philosophy in the Bedroom (1795)

Fear and ignorance, you will continue, are two mainstays of any and all religions.

Philosophy in the Bedroom (1795)

Benevolence is more a vice of pride than a true virtue of the soul.

Philosophy in the Bedroom (1795)

Modesty is an old-fashioned virtue, which, given your charms, you must certainly do without.

Philosophy in the Bedroom (1795)

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Marquis de Sade (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.