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.
Victor HugoRead
To a gargoyle on the ramparts of Notre Dame as Esmeralda rides off with Gringoire Quasimodo says. "Why was I not made of stone like thee?
Interpretation
What this quote means
Quasimodo expresses envy for the stone gargoyle's enduring form, contrasting it with his own painful existence.
In this poignant quote from Victor Hugo's 'The Hunchback of Notre-Dame', Quasimodo laments his own suffering and physical deformity while reflecting on the steadfastness and immunity to pain of the stone gargoyle. It speaks to the human condition, illustrating themes of longing, isolation, and the desire for a life free from the burdens of human emotion and experience.
Themes
PainIdentityLongingSufferingExistence
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on literature, to illustrate themes of self-acceptance.
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All quotes βWhen two mouths, made sacred by love, draw near to each other to create, it is impossible, that above that ineffable kiss there should not be a thrill in the immense mystery of the stars.
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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 Cosetteβs 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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Taste is the common sense of genius.
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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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Through this atmosphere of torrid splendor moved wan beings as richly upholstered as the furniture, beings without definite pursuits or permanent relations, who drifted on a languid tide of curiosity... Somewhere behind them, in the background of their lives there was doubtless a real past, yet they had no more real existence than the poet's shades in limbo.
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