"Perhaps the only difference between me and other people is that I've always demanded more from the sunset. More spectacular colors when the sun hit the horizon. That's perhaps my only sin."

"It's actually the souls of the trees we're seeing in the winter. In summer everything is green and idyllic but in the winter, the branches and the trunks all stand out. Just look at how crooked they all are. The branches have to carry all the leaves to the sunlight. That's one long struggle for survival."

"For me, love was just lust with jealousy added; everything else was total nonsense. For every hundred crimes committed in the name of love, only one is committed in the name of sex."

"They said that love was the secret ingredient in sex, but, to me, love was just lust, with jealousy added."

"Basically, we're all waiting for permission to die."

"We elevate those who say right but mean wrong, and mock those who say wrong but mean right."

"Each time a word becomes prohibited, you remove a stone from the Democratic foundation. Society demonstrates its impotence in the face of a concrete problem by removing words from the language. And I say that society is as cowardly as the people in it, who in my opinion are also too stupid for democracy."

"The human qualities can be expressed in one word: Hypocrisy. We elevate those who say "right" but mean "wrong" and mock those who say "wrong" but mean "right." By the way, I can assure you that women who claim that negros don't turn them on, they're lying."

"It's said to be difficult to take someone's life. I would've said that it's more difficult not to. For a human being, killing is the most natural thing in the world. We're created for it."

"[narrating] During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country; and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher. ("The House of the Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe)"

"But you... you've fucked thousands of men."

"[to Young Joe] Would it be alright if I show the children the whoring bed? After all, they also have a stake in this event."

"[to her children, referring to Joe's bedroom] Let's go see daddy's favorite place! C'mon boys! Ooh, so this is were it all happened!"

"Well, if three is a crowd, then seven must be a bit of a challenge for the pretty miss. I must say I have a hard time picturing her enjoying loneliness."

"Whatever? It must be hard, when you've got everything, to know what to say!"

"The secret ingredient to sex is love."

"That's not how this goes. Most people don't scream until I hit them."

"Mea Vulva, Mea Maxima Vulva!"

"Charlotte Gainsbourg – Joe (ages 35–50)"

"Stellan Skarsgård – Seligman"

"Shia LaBeouf – Jerôme Morris"

"Christian Slater – Joe's father"

"Jamie Bell – K"

"Uma Thurman – Mrs. H"

"Willem Dafoe – L"

"Mia Goth – P"

"Connie Nielsen – Katherine (Joe's mother)"

"Michaël Pas – Older Jerôme"

"Jean-Marc Barr – the Debtor Gentleman"

"Udo Kier – The Waiter"

"Lars von Trier ends up hitting the G-spot of avant-garde filmmaking with a movie only he could ever make, and gives the open-minded members of the audience one of the most powerful and sensational experiences ever seen in arts."

"Darling Légitimus - the Concierge"

"Catherine Allégret - Catherine"

"Maria Michi - Rosa's mother"

"Veronica Lazar - Rosa"

"Massimo Girotti - Marcel"

"Jean-Pierre Léaud - Tom"

"Maria Schneider - Jeanne"

"Marlon Brando - Paul"

"[last line of the film] I didn't know his name..."

"It's better not knowing anything."

"Olympia is the personification of domestic virtue: faithful, economic and racist."

"[to his dead wife at her wake] Our marriage was nothing more than a foxhole for you. And all it took for you to get out was a 10 cent razor and a tub full of water. You cheap, goddamn, fucking, godforsaken whore, I hope you rot in hell. You're worse than the dirtiest street pig anybody could ever find anywhere, and you know why? You know why? Because you lied. You lied to me and I trusted you. You lied and you knew you were lying. Go on, tell me you didn't lie. Haven't you got anything to say about that? You can think up something, can't you? Go on, tell me something! Go on, smile, you cunt! [crying] Go on, tell me... tell me something sweet. Smile at me and say I just misunderstood. Go on, tell me. You pig-fucker... you goddamn, fucking, pig-fucking liar. [sobbing] Rosa... I'm sorry, I... I just - I can't stand it to see these goddamn things on your face! [peels off her fake eyelashes] You never wore make-up... this fucking shit. I'm gonna take this off your mouth, this - this lipstick... Rosa - oh GOD! I'm sorry! I - I don't know why you did it! I'd do it too, if I knew how... I just don't know how... I have to... have to find a way..."

"Well, first you have to take a hot bath and if you don't you're gonna get pneumonia. Right?... and then you know what happens? You get pneumonia... and then you know what happens? You die! And then, you know what happens then when you die? I get to fuck the dead rat!"

"Even if a husband lives 200 fucking years, he'll never discover his wife's true nature. I may be able to understand the secrets of the universe, but... I'll never understand the truth about you. Never."