Dangerous Liaisons

Vicomte de Valmont:
It's beyond my control.

Marquise de Merteuil:
You'll find the shame is like the pain, you only feel it once.

Marquise de Merteuil:
I've distilled every thing to one single principle: win or die.

Vicomte de Valmont:
And it's not that I want to have you. All I want is to deserve you.

Marquise de Merteuil:
Adopt a less marital tone.

Vicomte de Valmont:
You see, I have no plans to break down her morals. I WANT her to believe in love and virtue and the sancitity of marriage, and still not be able to stop herself. I want the pleasure of watching her betray everything that is important to her.

Marquise de Merteuil:
When I came out into society I was 15. I already knew then that the role I was condemned to, namely to keep quiet and do what I was told, gave me the perfect opportunity to listen and observe. Not to what people told me, which naturally was of no interest to me, but to whatever it was they were trying to hide. I practiced detachment. I learn how to look cheerful while under the table I stuck a fork onto the back of my hand. I became a virtuoso of deceit. I consulted the strictest moralists to learn how to appear, philosophers to find out what to think, and novelists to see what I could get away with, and in the end it all came down to one wonderfully simple principle: win or die.

Vicomte de Valmont:
I promised her my eternal love, and I actually thought that for a couple of hours.

Marquise de Merteuil:
Like most intellectuals, he's intensely stupid.

Vicomte de Valmont:
Why do you suppose we only feel compelled to chase the ones who run away?

Marquise de Merteuil:
Immaturity?

Madame de Rosemonde:
I'm sorry to say this but those who are most worthy of love are never made happy by it. Do you still think men love the way we do? No... men enjoy the happiness they feel. We can only enjoy the happiness we give. They are not capable of devoting themselves exclusively to one person. So to hope to be made happy by love is a certain cause of grief.

Vicomte de Valmont:
You see, I have no intentions of breaking down her prejudices. I want her to believe in God and virtue and the sanctity of marriage, and still not be able to stop herself. I want the pleasure of watching her betray everything that is most important to her. Surely you can understand that. I thought betrayal was your favorite word.

Marquise de Merteuil:
No, no..."cruelty." I always think that has a nobler ring to it.

Marquise de Merteuil:
When one woman strikes at the heart of another she seldom misses, and the wound is invariably fatal.

Marquise de Merteuil:
I've always known I was meant to dominate your sex and avenge my own.

Marquise de Merteuil:
Well I had no choice, did I? I'm a woman. Women are obliged to be far more skillful than men. You can ruin our reputation and our life with a few well-chosen words. So of course I had to invent not only myself but ways of escape no one has every thought of before. And I've succeeded because I've always known I was born to dominate your sex and avenge my own.

Vicomte de Valmont:
I often wonder how you manage to invent yourself.

Marquise de Merteuil:
Tell us we should think of the opera.

Chevalier Danceny:
Oh, it's sublime, don't you find?

Marquise de Merteuil:
Monsieur Darceny is one of those rare eccentrics who come here to listen to the music.

Vicomte de Valmont:
Be careful of the Marquis

Chevalier Danceny:
You must permit me to treat with skepticism anything you have to say about her.

Vicomte de Valmont:
Nevertheless, I must tell you in this affair, we are both her creatures, as I believe her letters to me will prove. When you have read them, you may decide to circulate them.

Marquise de Merteuil:
When it comes to the marriage, one man is as good as the next. And even the least accomodating is less trouble than a mother.