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
The guilty one is not he who commits the sin, but he who causes the darkness.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The true culprit in moral transgressions is not the one who acts wrongly, but rather the one who fosters an environment of wrongdoing.
Victor Hugo's quote highlights the idea that moral responsibility extends beyond the individual who commits a sinful act; it is also the responsibility of those who create or perpetuate conditions that lead to such actions. By calling attention to the 'darkness' that influences people's choices, Hugo invites us to reflect on the broader societal and ethical implications of our actions, urging us to consider how our influence can lead others to stray from what is right.
Themes
GuiltDarknessResponsibilitySinMorality
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about accountability and moral choices in a community setting.
More from Victor Hugo
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.
Victor HugoRead
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.
Victor HugoRead
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.
Victor HugoRead
Taste is the common sense of genius.
Victor HugoRead
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!
Victor HugoRead
Similar quotes
Are you sure/That we are awake? It seems to me/That yet we sleep, we dream
William ShakespeareRead
Legislators, priests, philosophers, writers, ans scientists have striven to show that the subordinate position of woman is willed in heaven and advantageous on earth.
Simone De BeauvoirRead
Whether the Sikhs want to worship in Wisconsin or the Christians want to worship in Texas or the Jews want to worship in New York, we're living under the magnificent umbrella of a Constitution that says we can.
Marianne WilliamsonRead
There lives more faith in honest doubt, believe me, than in half the creeds.
Alfred Lord TennysonRead
The strength of a civilization is not measured by its ability to fight wars, but rather by its ability to prevent them.
Gene RoddenberryRead
When I was a boy, I'd hide under the kitchen table and wind string around the chairs. I have a sense now that I am pulling on those threads. The more I pull, the more it comes unraveled.
W. G. SebaldRead