Quotes from Victor Hugo

There is no such thing as a little country. The greatness of a people is no more determined by their numbers than the greatness of a man is by his height.

Now life has killed the dream I dreamed.

For there are many great deeds done in the small struggles of life.

Adversity makes men, and prosperity makes monsters.

The omnipotence of evil has never resulted in anything but fruitless efforts. Our thoughts always escape from whoever tries to smother them.

It is most pleasant to commit a just action which is disagreeable to someone whom one does not like.

An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come.

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

The wicked envy and hate; it is their way of admiring.

There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world, and that is an idea whose time as come.

Greater than the tread of mighty armies is an idea whose time has come.

But alas, if I have not maintained my victory, it is God's fault for not making man and the devil of equal strength.

People do not lack strength; they lack will.

Success is an ugly thing. Men are deceived by its false resemblances to merit.... They confound the brilliance of the firmament with the star-shaped footprints of a duck in the mud.

Everything bows to success, even grammar.

But when ill indeed, Even dismissing the doctor don't always succeed.

It may be remarked in passing that success is an ugly thing. Men are deceived by its false resemblences to merit.

Success is a very hideous thing. Its false resemblance to merit deceives men.

Profound hearts, wise minds, take life as God makes it; it is a long trial, and unintelligible preparation for the unknown destiny.

He, who every morning plans the transactions of the day, and follows that plan, carries a thread that will guide him through a labyrinth of the most busy life.

One sometimes says: 'He killed himself because he was bored with life.' One ought rather to say: 'He killed himself because he was bored by lack of life.'

A joyous little creature, so beautiful, It was as if a gate of Heaven opened as she came in.

There are moments when a rope's end, a pole, the branch of the tree, is life itself, and it is a frightful thing to see a living being lose his hold upon it, and fall like a ripe fruit.

When we are at the end of life, to die means to go away; when we are at the beginning, to go away means to die.