Quotes from Victor Hugo

The holy law of Jesus Christ governs our civilisation, but it does not yet permeate it.

This is the shade of meaning: the door of a physician should never be closed; the door of a priest should always be open.

I bear the dungeon within me; within me is winter, ice, and despair; I have darkness in my soul.

For love is like a tree; it grows of itself; it send its roots deep into our being, and often continues to grow green over a heart in ruins.

Winter changes into stone the water of heaven and the heart of man.

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

All the human and animal manure which the world wastes, if returned to the land, instead of being thrown into the sea, would suffice to nourish the world.

To be a saint is the exception; to be a just person is the rule. Err, stumble, commit sin, but be one of the just.

So your desire is to do nothing? Well, you shall not have a week, a day, an hour, free from oppression. You shall not be able to lift anything without agony. Every passing minute will make your muscles crack. What is feather to others will be a rock to you. The simplest things will become difficult. Life will become monstrous about you. To come, to go, to breathe, will be so many terrible tasks for you. Your lungs will feel like a hundred-pound weight.

I would rather be the head of a fly than the tail of a lion.

He had slipped, climbed, rolled, searched, walked, persevered, that is all. Such is the secret of all triumphs.

He who is not master of his own thoughts is not accountable for his own deeds.