Lestat de Lioncourt quotes from Interview with the Vampire

Lestat de Lioncourt

What rage you must feel when you choke on your sorrow.

Lestat de Lioncourt

I came to know Christ in a monastery. I wanted to be a priest. Just like you, Paul. And under the guidance and discipline of the monks who lived there, I came to memorize both testaments, the writings of Assisi, Aquinas, Erasmus, all the saints and scholars. My father, a vulgar man, did not think much of this education. And so he and my brothers conspired to pull me out, lock me away, where, between beatings, starvations and the failure of Christ to intercede the beatings and starvations, I slowly forgot all about the testaments, Assisi, Aquinas, Erasmus, all of it. And so to answer your boring question, there is an ocean between Christ and myself! J'espère que cela satisfera les oiseaux perchés dans la cage de votre esprit!

Lestat de Lioncourt

The first time I laid eyes on you, your beautiful face, I saw that sorrow. I did not know how it got there or why it was so voluminous. I can take away that sorrow, Louis. I can give you that death you begged your feeble, blind, degenerate, nonexistent god for. But I can do it joyfully. I can swap this life of shame, swap it out for a dark gift and a power you can't begin to imagine. You just have to ask me for it. You just have to nod your beautiful head and say yes.

Lestat de Lioncourt

This primitive country has picked you clean. It has shackled you in permanent exile. Every room you enter, every hat you're forced to wear. The stern landlord, the deferential businessman, the loyal son! All these roles you conform to, and none of them your true nature! What rage you must feel as you choke on your sorrow. The first time I laid eyes on you, your beautiful face, I saw that sorrow. I did not know how it got there or why it was so voluminous. I can take away that sorrow, Louis. I can give you that death you begged your feeble, blind, degenerate, nonexistent god for. But I can do it joyfully. I can swap this life of shame, swap it out for a dark gift and a power you can't begin to imagine. You just have to ask me for it. You just have to nod your beautiful head and say yes. I love you, Louis. You are loved. I send my love to you, and you send it back round to me. And this circle, this home we've barely had a glimpse of, know it frightens me as much as it does you.

Lestat de Lioncourt

I had planned to make a new life for myself in St. Louis. That was to be my destiny. And now I know I was right. Only it turns out the saint is not a city, but a handsome man with a most agreeable disposition.

Lestat de Lioncourt

Destined to be very good friends.

Lestat de Lioncourt

Be my companion, Louis. Be all the beautiful things you are, and be them without apology. For all eternity.

Lestat de Lioncourt

[To Louis, telepathically, during a card came] These men look down on you. I have to say, I find it appalling how men like yourself are treated in this country of yours... Ten percent. Fifteen percent. Do you not know your value? Do you suffer these indignities for some larger purpose? And do you think two pair will win the hour?

Lestat de Lioncourt

And the women... All shades of skin-white, black, cinnamon. I've emptied a bank vault sampling, I must say.

Lestat de Lioncourt

[To Louis] Come to me.

Lestat de Lioncourt

Do you think God heard you, Louis? In that tawdry box, through this pig vessel, this-- this charlatan? Do you not see how unworthy he is? How can you humiliate yourself like this?

Lestat de Lioncourt

Hunting is an art. You have the power to subdue anyone you want, but sometimes restraint is your most powerful weapon.

Lestat de Lioncourt

If you listen to me, if you finally submit to your nature, you will be filled, Louis, with all the life you can hold. You will see death in all its beauty, life as it is only known at the very point of death. You alone, of all creatures, can see death with that impunity. You alone, under the rising moon, can strike like the hand of God.

Lestat de Lioncourt

I realize the hypocrite I am, emphasizing cleanliness after I overindulged, but a proper disposal is the penance of a sated vampire. And you won't always have a conveniently-located graveyard nearby.

Lestat de Lioncourt

[Referring to tenor singing out of tune] I don't understand how someone like that can make it onto a stage. I understand they're a rogue company, but are they pulling talent from roadside gas stations?

Lestat de Lioncourt

The sun gives life to everything but us. I should have told you that. The life of a vampire has its challenges and its rewards. But I think New Orleans, with its music, culture, cuisine, shipping yards, conventioneers, thrill-seeking tourists far-flung from their homes, the laissez-faire attitude of the local police force... [chuckles] Oh yes, the perfect setting for a vampire home... a vampire romance.