Quotes from Victor Hugo

Oh! oh! he said, with a smile; to all appearance, this is a great crime which all the world commits. These are hypocrisies which have taken fright, and are in haste to make protest and to put themselves under shelter.

L'ideale è spaventoso a vedersi, così, perduto nelle profondità, piccolo, isolato, impercettibile, brillante ma circondato da tutte quelle grandi minacce nere mostruosamente ammassate intorno a esso. Eppure, esso non è più in pericolo di quanto non lo sia una stella tra le fauci delle nembi.

Monsieur, retorted Gavroche, perhaps you were a man of wit yesterday, but you have degenerated this morning.

C'est une terrible chose d'être heureux! Comme on s'en contente! Comme on trouve que cela suffit! Comme, étant en possession du faux but de la vie, le bonheur, on oublie le vrai but, le devoir!

Dumnezeu nu poate d?rui fericirii celor care se iubesc decât o durat? f?r? cap?t. Dup? o via?? de dragoste, o eternitate de dragoste, da, e o întregire. Dar nici lui Dumnezeu nu-i e cu putin?? s? fac? ceva mai mare decât fericirea des?vârÈ™it? pe care o d? sufletului iubirea. Dumnezeu e împlinirea în cer. Dragostea e împlinirea omului.

Du reste qui dit lumière ne dit pas nécessairement joie. On souffre dans la lumière; l'excès brûle. La flamme est ennemie de l'aile. Brûler sans cesser de voler, c'est là le prodige du génie.

Dying is nothing; what's terrible is not to live.

You have done well to come and look at a man who is on the point of death. It is well that there should be witnesses at that moment.

Ele supunha ter, e talvez tivesse efetivamente, atingido a realidade da vida e da filosofia humana, chegando por fim a não contemplar senão o céu, única coisa que a verdade pode ver do fundo do seu poço.

M. Myriel had to undergo the fate of every newcomer in a little town, where there are many mouths which talk, and very few heads

Vi sono abissi che salvano.

El problema nuestro no es que nos vamos a morir; es que no sabemos como vivir.

What billows are ideas! How quickly they cover all that it is their mission to destroy and to bury, and how promptly they create frightful gulfs!

All extreme situations have their lightning flashes which sometimes dazzle, sometimes illuminate us.

Qué son las convulsiones de una ciudad al lado de los motines del alma? El hombre es más profundo que el pueblo.

Alas! sir, said Gringoire, I would that I could lend you some, but, my breeches are worn to holes, and 'tis not crowns which have done it.

L'uguaglianza, cittadini, non significa ridurre ogni vegetazione a ad uno stesso livello, una società di giganteschi fili d'erba e querce nane.

You have done well to come and look at a man who is on the point of death. It is well that there should be witnesses at that moment. One has one's caprices; I should have liked to last until the dawn, but I know that I shall hardly live three hours. It will be night then. What does it matter, after all? Dying is a simple affair. One has no need of the light for that. So be it. I shall die by starlight.

Work is the law; whoever spurns it as tiresome will have it as punishment

uttering that terrific cry:

No dia em que nós não lhes formos mais convenientes, que nos anulem, mas até então ajudem-nos a caminhar.

Quand je suis triste, je pense à vous, comme l'hiver on pense au soleil, et quand je suis gai, je pense à vous, comme en plein soleil on pense à l'ombre

La historia de las ciudades se refleja en sus cloacas.

He had painted it himself, for he knew how to do a little of everything—badly.