Quotes from Victor Hugo

Thus, in speaking of Bonaparte, one was free to sob or to puff up with laughter, provided that hatred lay at the bottom.

To divinise is human, to humanise is divine.

The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved--loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.

In October, 1815, he was released; he had entered there in 1796, for having broken a pane of glass and taken a loaf of bread.

Chi vuole restar virtuosa non deve aver compassione per le sue mani.

It was having rosy nails that were too pretty which had drawn Dahlia to Listolier, to others perhaps, to idleness. How could she make such nails work? She who wishes to remain virtuous must not have pity on her hands. As for Zephine, she had conquered Fameuil by her roguish and caressing little way of saying Yes, sir.

le reve est l'aquarium de la nuit.

Who's there? cried a toothless voice.

And this is the note: "Oh Thou who art! "Ecclesiastes names thee the Almighty; Maccabees names thee Creator; the Epistle to the Ephesians names thee Liberty; Baruch names thee Immensity; the Psalms name thee Wisdom and Truth; John names thee Light; the book of Kings names thee Lord; Exodus calls thee Providence; Leviticus, Holiness; Esdras, Justice; Creation calls thee God; man names thee Father; but Solomon names thee Compassion, and that is the most beautiful of all thy names.

L'enfant, comme clou sur la roche que la marée haute commençait à baigner, regarda la barque s'éloigner. On eût dit qu'il comprenait. Quoi? Que comprenait-il? L'ombre.

for, if liberty is the summit, equality is the base.

To feed the people is a fine goal, massacring them is the wrong way to go about it.

Bien lire l'univers, c'est bien lire la vie.

All around her mouth, tufts of white hair gave her the whiskered appearance of a cat.

The inordinate weight of this man was disturbing the balance of human destiny. This individual alone counted for more than the rest of the world put together. These excessive quantities of human vitality concentrated in a single person – the world going to one man's head – would be fatal to civilization if it were to continue.

I want the superfluous, the useless, the extravagant, excess, that which serves no purpose.

Tutta Parigi era ai suoi piedi, coi mille pennacoli dei suoi edifici e l'orizzonte circolare delle sue molli colline, col fiume serpeggiante sotto i suoi ponti e il popolo, formicolante per le sue strade, con la nube dei suoi vapori, la catdna montuosa dei suoi tetti che rinserra Notre Dame tra le sue gambe accavallate. Ma di tutta quella città l'arcidiacono non guardava chs un punto: la piazza del Sagrato; di tutta quella folla, una figura: la zingara.

Tyranny follows the tyrant. Woe to the man who leaves behind a shadow that bears his form.

Era un individuo sulla sessantina, con una faccia da uomo d'affari e un'aria da briccone: due cose che spesso vanno insieme.

His rich penitents and the pious women of D—— had often contributed the money for a beautiful new altar for monseigneur's oratory; he had always taken the money and given it to the poor. "The most beautiful of altars," said he, "is the soul of an unhappy man who is comforted and thanks God.

Where the telescope ends, the microscope begins. Which of the two possesses the larger field of vision? Choose. A bit of mould is a pleiad of flowers; a nebula is an ant-hill of stars.

CHAPTER III—FOUR AND FOUR

Per distruggere la parola scritta bastano una torcia e un turco. Per distruggere la parola edificata occorre una rivoluzione sociale, una rivoluzione del globo.

Nothing else in the world…not all the armies…is so powerful as an idea whose time has come.