Quotes from Victor Hugo

Justice has its anger, Monsieur Bishop, and the wrath of justice is an element of progress. No matter what they say, the French Revolution is the greatest advance taken by mankind since the coming of Christ.

At length he told himself that it must be so, that his destiny was thus allotted, that he had not authority to alter the arrangements made on high, that, in any case, he must make his choice: virtue without and abomination within, or holiness within and infamy without

The galleys make the convict what he is; reflect upon that, if you please.

To shape the soul of a young girl, all the nuns in the world are not equal to one mother.

Alas! What are all these lives driven willy-nilly? Where are they going? Why are they like this? He who knows the answer to that, sees the darkness as a whole. He is alone. His name is God.

If you wish to gain an idea of what revolution is, call it Progress; and if you wish to acquire an idea of the nature of progress, call it To-morrow. To-morrow fulfils its work irresistibly, and it is already fulfilling it to-day. It

One speaks to one's self, talks to one's self, exclaims to one's self without breaking the external silence; there is a great tumult; everything about us talks except the mouth. The realities of the soul are none the less realities because they are not visible and palpable.

These cause the ideas of renunciation and solitude to germinate in him? Was he, in the midst

This is the shade of difference: the door of physicianshould never be shut, the door of the priest should always be open.

Revolution is the accession of the peoples, and, at the bottom, the People is Man.

He always took his meals alone, with an open book before him, which he read. He had a well-selected little library. He loved books; books are cold but safe friends. In

He who has not been a determined accuser during prosperity should hold his peace in adversity.