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
He was at his own request and through his own complicity driven out of all his happinesses one after the other; and he had this sorrow, that after having lost Cosette wholly in one day, he was afterwards obliged to lose her again in detail.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects the sorrow of losing a loved one and the painful process of gradual loss.
In this quote by Victor Hugo, the speaker laments the profound emotional pain experienced when losing a cherished person, specifically Cosette. The speaker suggests that the loss was not only sudden but was compounded by a slow realization of her absence, highlighting the complexities of love and the heartbreak that comes from both immediate and gradual separations.
Themes
LossLoveSorrowHappinessHeartbreak
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech at a memorial, one might use this quote to express the enduring pain of losing a loved one.
More from Victor Hugo
All quotes →When 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 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.
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 you can prevent yourself from falling in love one of these days? Such things do happen, you know, even to the most prudent men.' Simon gave him a strange, one might even have thought a hostile, look. I should tear it out of my heart as I'd wrench out of my mouth a rotten tooth.
W. Somerset MaughamRead
There is something so tender about this to me, about being willing to have your makeup wash off, your eyes tear up, your nose start to run. Its tender partly because it harkens back to infancy, to your mother washing your face with love and lots or water, tending to you, making you clean all over again.
Anne LamottRead
God is love, and that love works through men-especially through the whole community of Christians.
C. S. LewisRead
True rebels after all, are as rare as true lovers,and in both cases, to mistake a fever for passion can destroy one's life
James A. BaldwinRead
Dearest, loveliest Elizabeth! What do I not owe you! You taught me a lesson, hard indeed at first, but most advantageous. By you, I was properly humbled.
Jane AustenRead
Woman is a ray of God. She is not that earthly beloved: she is creative, not created.
RumiRead