Quotes by Victor Hugo

A week passed, and Jean Valjean had not taken a step in his room. He still remained in bed. The portress said to her husband:–The good man upstairs yonder does not get up, he no longer eats, he will not last long. That man has his sorrows, that he has. You wont get it out of my head that his daughter has made a bad marriage.The porter replied, with the tone of marital sovereignty:If hes rich, let him have a doctor. If he is not rich, let him go without. If he has no doctor he will die.And if he has one?He will die, said the porter.

You were right to come to see a dying man. It is right that these moments should have witnesses. Everyone has his dream; I would like to live till dawn, but I know I have less than three hours left. It will be night, but no matter. Dying is simple. It does not take daylight. So be it: I will die by starlight

He said to himself that he really had not suffered enough to deserve such radiant happiness, and he thanked God, in the depths of his soul, for having permitted that he, a miserable man, should be so loved by this innocent being. -Jean Valjean about Cossette-

He said to himself that he really had not suffered enough to deserve such radiant happiness, and he thanked God, in the depths of his soul, for having permitted that he, a miserable man, should be so loved by this innocent being. He said to himself that he really had not suffered enough to deserve such radiant happiness, and he thanked God, in the depths of his soul, for having permitted that he, a miserable man, should be so loved by this innocent being. -Jean Valjean about Cossette-

She dropped her head again on Marius knees, and her eyelids closed. He thought the poor soul had departed. Eponine remained motionless. All at once, at the very moment when Marius fancied her asleep forever, she slowly opened her eyes in which appeared the sombre profundity of death, and said to him in a tone whose sweetness seemed already to proceed from another world:--And by the way, Monsieur Marius, I believe that I was a little bit in love with you.She tried to smile once more and expired.

Man is not a circle with a single center; he is an ellipse with two focii. Facts are one, ideas are the other.

A shadow is hard to seize by the throat and dash to the ground.

A miscreant with coiffed, scented hair, a slender waist, the hips of a woman and the chest of a Prussian officer, with a finely tied cravat, by all girls admired. ~ [introduction of character Montparnasse]

A miscreant with coiffed, scented hair, a slender waist, the hips of a woman and the chest of a Prussian officer, with a finely tied cravat, by all girls admired. ~ [ introduction of character Montparnasse ]

Genuflection before the idol or the dollar destroys the muscles which walk and the will that moves.

The head which does not turn backwards towards horizons that have vanished contains neither thought nor love.

This is what men call genius, just as they call a painted face beauty and a richly attired figure majesty. The confound the brilliance of the firmament with the star-shaped footprints of a duck in the mud.

...Man has a tyrant, ignorance. I voted for the demise of that particular tyrant. That particular tyrant has engendered royalty, which is authority based on falsehood, whereas science is authority based on truth. Man should be governed by science alone.And conscience, added the bishop.Its the same thing. Conscience is the quota of innate science we each have inside us.

At certain moments, the foot slips ; at others, the ground gives way. How many times had that conscience, furious for the right, grasped and overwhelmed him! How many times had truth, inexorable, planted her knee upon his breast! How many times, thrown to the ground by the light, had he cried to it for mercy!

Every good quality runs into a defect; economy borders on avarice, the generous are not far from the prodigal, the brave man is close to the bully; he who is very pious is slightly sanctimonious; there are just as many vices to virtue as there are holes in the mantle of Diogenes.

Whatever causes night in our souls may leave stars. Cimourdain was full of virtues and truth, but they shine out of a dark background.

Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.

The earth is a great piece of stupidity.

She had had sweet dreams, which possibly arose from the fact that her little bed was very white.

She had had sweet dreams, which possibly arose from teh fact that her little bed was very white.