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
Change your opinions, keep to your principles; change your leaves, keep intact your roots.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Embrace change in your thoughts and ideas while remaining true to your core values and beliefs.
Victor Hugo emphasizes the importance of adaptability in our opinions and perspectives while maintaining our foundational principles. Just as trees shed their leaves with each season yet retain their roots, we too should be willing to evolve our views while staying grounded in our core values and beliefs.
Themes
ChangePrinciplesOpinionsValuesAdaptability
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about personal growth, one might use this quote to illustrate the balance between flexibility and integrity.
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
Whether it is a tsunami, or whether it is a hurricane, whether it's an earthquake - when we see these great fatal and natural acts, men and women of every ethnic persuasion come together and they just want to help.
Martin Luther King IiiRead
Trump's election could be a blessing in disguise. This is the opportunity for America to correct itself.
Bernice KingRead
Self-approval and self-acceptance in the now are the main keys to positive changes in every area of our lives.
Louise HayRead
To make the revolution in the United States is a slow day by day job that requires patience and discipline. It is the only way to make it. . . . All I know is that despite the fact that I am one of the people who benefit from a capitalist society, I find that any system which exploits other people cannot and should not exist.
Jane FondaRead
Choose your corner, pick away at it carefully, intensely and to the best of your ability and that way you might change the world.
Charles EamesRead
'Middle class' used to be synonymous with secure, with steady, with boring, because middle-class people were people who were pretty much safe from the time they first started work on through retirement and until their deaths. No longer.
Elizabeth WarrenRead