Quills (2000) - Quotes

Visitor Restrictions in Quarters

Abbé du Coulmier: You are not to entertain visitors in your quarters.

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A Reflection on Past Deceptions and Love

Renee Pelagie: Can I impart to you his cruelest trick?

Dr. Royer-Collard: Of course.

Renee Pelagie: Once, long ago in the folly of youth, he made me love him.

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Harnessing the Inner Beast for Healing

Renee Pelagie: If you cure him, I mean really cure him, harness the beast that rages his soul.

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Desperation and Sanity in a Madhouse

Renee Pelagie: Desperation has driven me past etiquette, all the way to frenzy.

Dr. Royer-Collard: My schedule is not the subject to the whims of lunatics.

Renee Pelagie: I beg to differ, you work in a madhouse. Your every walking moment is governed by the insane.

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The Dangers of Unspoken Feelings

Abbé du Coulmier: There are certain things.... feelings.... we must not voice.

Madeleine LeClerc: Why?

Abbé du Coulmier: They incite us to act on what we should not.... cannot.

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A Disturbing Manuscript Proposal

Madeleine LeClerc: Your publisher says I'm not to leave without another manuscript.

Marquis de Sade: I've just the story. It's the unhappy tale... of a virginal laundry lass. The darling of the lower wards where they entomb the criminally insane.

Madeleine LeClerc: Is it awfully violent?

Marquis de Sade: Most assuredly.

Madeleine LeClerc: Is it terribly erotic?

Marquis de Sade: Fiendishly so. But it comes with a price. A kiss for each page...

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Debate on Literature and Human Nature

Abbé du Coulmier: It's not even a proper novel. It's nothing but an encyclopedia of perversions. Frankly, it even fails as an exercise in craft. The characters are wooden, the dialogue is inane. Not to mention the repetition of words like "nipple" and "pikestaff".

Marquis de Sade: There I was taxed; it's true.

Abbé du Coulmier: And such puny scope. Nothing but the worst in man's nature.

Marquis de Sade: I write of the great, eternal truths that bind together all mankind. The whole world over, we eat, we shit, we fuck, we kill and we die.

Abbé du Coulmier: But we also fall in love, we build cities, we compose symphonies, and we endure. Why not put that in your books as well?

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The Nature of Good and Evil

Madeleine LeClerc: How can we know who is good - and who is evil?

Abbé du Coulmier: All we can do is guard against our own corruption.

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Admiration for Intellectual Curiosity in Men

Simone: I so admire men with an appetite for...books.

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Prison Luxury Does Not Change Its Nature

Simone: Tell him I'm no fool, a prison's still a prison, even with Chinese silks and chandeliers.

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Martyrdom Should Be for a Higher Cause

Dr. Royer-Collard: If you're going to martyr yourself, do it for God, not a chambermaid.

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The Superiority of Books Over Human Company

Dr. Royer-Collard: You prefer a book to your husband's company? Well no wonder, I'm only flesh and blood - that's no match for the printed page!

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The Definition of Idealism in Youth

Dr. Royer-Collard: You know how I define idealism, Monsieur Delbenet? Youth's final luxury.

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The Madness of Writing

Madeleine LeClerc: You can't be a proper writer without a touch of madness, can you?

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A Warning About Divine Observation

Madeleine LeClerc: Don't come any closer, Abbe, God's watching.

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The Paradox of Goodness and Badness

Madeleine LeClerc: If I wasn't such a bad woman on the page, I couldn't be such a good woman in life.

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Distinction Between Paper and Life

Madeleine LeClerc: Some things belong on paper, others in life. It's a blessed fool who can't tell the difference.

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The Potential of Insanity in Art

Marquis de Sade: My glorious prose filtered through the minds of the insane. Who knows, they might improve it.

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Understanding Virtue Through Vice

Marquis de Sade: In order to know virtue, we must acquaint ourselves with vice. Only then can we know the true measure of a man.

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Questioning the Nature of Divine Justice

Marquis de Sade: This monstrous God of yours? He strung up his son like a side of veal. I shudder to think what he'd do to me.

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Reflections on Death and Suffering

Marquis de Sade: I write what I see, the endless procession to the guillotine. We're all lined up, waiting for the crunch of the blade... the rivers of blood are flowing beneath our feet... I've been to hell, young man, you've only read about it.

A Provocative Invitation to Read

Marquis de Sade: Ah, you've come to read my trousers.

A Playful Confession of Love and Desire

Marquis de Sade: You've already stolen my heart... as well as a more prominent organ, south of the Equator.

The Nature of Artistic Observation

Marquis de Sade: I didn't create this world of ours. I merely recorded it.

Questioning Faith and Accountability

Marquis de Sade: Suppose one of your precious inmates attempted to walk on water and drowned - would you comdemn the Bible? I think not.

Questioning the Strength of Convictions and Beliefs

Marquis de Sade: Are your convictions so fragile they cannot stand in opposition to mine? Is your god so flimsy, so weak? For shame!

The Importance of Smooth Communication

Marquis de Sade: Conversation, like certain portions of the anatomy, always runs more smoothly when lubricated.

Confronting Evil Through Written Words

Abbé de Coulmier: Listen to me Abbé, and listen well. I've stared into the face of evil and I've lived to tell the tale and now, I beg you, for your sake, let me write it down.