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Your heart, which has been so little known to me, is not made for loving. Mine, which you never cease to vilify, is the one which is touched, whereas yours lacks even compassion.
— Pierre Choderlos De Laclos, Dangerous Liaisons, transl by Helen Constantine, (2007)
Today is Sant Jordi’s Day. “La Diada de Sant Jordi” commemorates the death of Saint George and is a very special day for romance and literature in Catalonia. Traditionally, men give a red rose to their sweetheart and the ladies give men a book in return. Today in the centre of Barcelona, you will find stands selling roses and books.
La Diada de Sant Jordi is Barcelona’s most romantic day of the year. On this day, people exchange commemorative gifts in a Barcelona style Valentine’s Day tradition.
Read more about Barcelona in the latest title from the popular City Tales series.
Image provided by Wikimedia Commons
Do not abandon me in the turmoil into which you have plunged me. Lend me your reason, since you have taken away mine.
— Pierre Choderlos De Laclos, Dangerous Liaisons, transl by Helen Constantine, (2007)
Do you know, this woman has more strength than I should have thought? Her defence is good. And were it not for the length of her letter, and the pretext she gives you in her sentence about gratitude to talk about the subject, she would not have betrayed herself in the very least.
— Pierre Choderlos De Laclos, Dangerous Liaisons, transl by Helen Constantine, (2007)
But your real mistake is to have allowed yourself to enter into correspondence with her. I defy you now to predict where this will lead. Are you by any chance hoping to prove to this woman by logic that she must give herself to you? It seems to me this can only be a sentimental and not a demonstrable truth, and that, in order to make it acceptable, you have to move her, not argue with her. What good would it do you to move her by writing letters, seeing you will not be there to take advantage of it? Even though your fine words may have an intoxicating effect, do you flatter yourself that that state will last long enough not to allow her time for reflection and so prevent her confessing it? Remember how long it takes to write a letter, and the time it takes before you send it. And tell me whether a woman, especially a principled woman like your devotee, can sustain for all that time a desire she is struggling never to entertain? This procedure may work with the young, who, when they write ‘I love you’, do not realize they are saying ‘I am yours’. But Madame de Tourvel, who is so conscious of her virtue, seems to me to know perfectly well what value attaches to these expressions. So, in spite of the advantage that you gained in conversation with her, she defeats you in her letter.
— Pierre Choderlos De Laclos, Dangerous Liaisons, transl by Helen Constantine, (2007)
Alone with my beauty in the dimly lit drawing room. Sweet darkness makes the timid lover bolder!
— Pierre Choderlos De Laclos, Dangerous Liaisons, transl by Helen Constantine, (2007)
The true hunter will rather prolong the chase.
— Pierre Choderlos De Laclos, Dangerous Liaisons, transl by Helen Constantine, (2007)
Oh yes, let her give herself to me, but let her struggle with herself; may she, without having the strength to conquer, have the strength to resist; may she savour at leisure the feeling of her weakness and be obliged to admit her defeat.
— Pierre Choderlos De Laclos, Dangerous Liaisons, transl by Helen Constantine, (2007)
