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
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the importance of productive thought over mere daydreaming. It warns against confusing idle fantasies with meaningful intellectual effort.
Victor Hugo distinguishes between genuine thought, which involves critical reasoning and intellectual engagement, and reverie, which is often characterized by aimless daydreaming. He argues that while thought can lead to growth and understanding, daydreaming can be misleading, leading one to mistake false comforts for actual nourishment of the mind. In this way, he highlights the necessity of fostering disciplined thinking rather than succumbing to the distractions of fantasy.
Themes
ThoughtReverieIntellectDaydreamingNourishment
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be cited in a discussion about the importance of focus and intellectual engagement in education.
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.
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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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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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There are no weeds, and no worthless men. There are only bad farmers.
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