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It is not so easy to keep silent when the silence is a lie.
Victor Hugo
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Silence can be deceptive, especially when it hides the truth.

This quote by Victor Hugo emphasizes the moral dilemma of choosing silence when it contradicts the truth. It suggests that staying quiet in the face of dishonesty or injustice is not an easy decision, as it can lead to complicity in the lie, highlighting the ethical responsibility to speak out against falsehoods.

Themes

SilenceTruthLieEthical ResponsibilityInjustice

In practice

Example use cases

During a discussion on social justice, one might use this quote to encourage people to speak up against wrongdoing.

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It seemed to be a necessary ritual that he should prepare himself for sleep by meditating under the solemnity of the night sky... a mysterious transaction between the infinity of the soul and the infinity of the universe.
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At that moment of love, a moment when passion is absolutely silent under omnipotence of ecstasy, Marius, pure seraphic Marius, would have been more capable of visiting a woman of the streets than of raising Cosette’s dress above the ankle. Once on a moonlit night, Cosette stopped to pick up something from the ground, her dress loosened and revealed the swelling of her breasts. Marius averted his eyes.
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Thought is the work of the intellect, reverie is its self-indulgence. To substitute day-dreaming for thought is to confuse a poison with a source of nourishment.
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Forget not, never forget that you have promised me to use this silver to become an honest man.... Jean Valjean, my brother: you belong no longer to evil, but to good. It is your soul that I am buying for you. I withdraw it from dark thoughts and from the spirit of perdition, and I give it to God!
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