Victor Hugo

What happened between those two beings? Nothing. They were adoring one another.

There is one spectacle grander than the sea, that is the sky; there is one spectacle grander than the sky, that is the interior of the soul.

Justice has its anger, my lord Bishop, and the wrath of justice is an element of progress. Whatever else may be said of it, the French Revolution was the greatest step forward by mankind since the coming of Christ. It was unfinished, I agree, but still it was sublime. It released the untapped springs of society; it softened hearts, appeased, tranquilized, enlightened, and set flowing through the world the tides of civilization. It was good. The French Revolution was the anointing of humanity.

"I should hope so," Laigle replied, "for my coat and I live comfortably together. It has assumed all my wrinkles, does not hurt me anywhere, has moulded itself on my deformities, and is complacent to all my movements, and 1 only feel its presence because it keeps me warm."

There comes an hour when protest no longer suffices; after philosophy there must be action; the strong hand finishes what the idea has sketched.

To rise from error to truth is rare and beautiful.

The ideal and the beautiful are identical; the ideal corresponds to the idea, and beauty to form; hence idea and substance are cognate.

History has its truth, and so has legend. Legendary truth is of another nature than historical truth. Legendary truth is invention whose result is reality. Furthermore, history and legend have the same goal; to depict eternal man beneath momentary man.

We are on the side of religion as opposed to religions, and we are among those who believe in the wretched inadequacy of sermons and the sublimity of prayer.

What is called honors and dignities, and even honor and dignity, is generally fool's gold.

A criminal remains a criminal whether he uses a convict's suit or a monarch's crown.

Genius is rare because the means of becoming one have not been available

Civilization survives on the constant discovery of amity and an equal supply of damnation.

A house is built of logs and stone, of tiles and posts and piers; a home is built of loving deeds that stand a thousand years.

History has its truth; and so has legend hers.

Ideas can no more flow backward than can a river.

The onward march of the human race requires that the heights around it constantly blaze with noble lessons of courage. Deeds of daring dazzle history and form one of man's guiding lights.

There is a way of meeting error while on the road of truth.

The beautiful is as useful as the useful." He added after a moment’s silence, "Perhaps more so.

A stand can be made against invasion by an army; no stand can be made against invasion by an idea.

Nature is pitiless; she never withdraws her flowers, her music, her fragrance, and her sunlight from before human cruelty or suffering.