"The charm of knowledge would be small indeed, were it not that there is so much shame to be overcome on the way to it."

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If the objects who serve us feel ecstacy, they are much more often concerned with themselves than with us, and our own enjoyment is consequently impaired. The idea of seeing another person experience the same pleasure reduces one to a kind of equality which spoils the unutterable charms that come from despotism.

— Marquis de Sade