Victor Hugo Quotes

A collection of quotes by Victor Hugo.

Victor Hugo (1802-1885) was a French poet, novelist, and playwright, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers of all time. He was born in Besançon, France, and showed great talent in literature from a young age.

Hugo achieved early success with his poetry, gaining recognition for his evocative and lyrical verses. However, it was his novels that brought him enduring fame and cemented his place in literary history. His most famous novel, "Les Misérables," published in 1862, depicts the struggles of various characters amidst the social and political turmoil of 19th-century France. The work showcases his strong social conscience and his belief in the potential for redemption and human kindness.

Throughout his life, Hugo remained engaged with political and social issues. He was an instrumental figure during the Romantic literary movement, which championed individualism and emotions over the constraints of traditional society. Hugo's work often contained a strong social commentary, advocating for social justice and addressing the plight of the impoverished and marginalized.

Aside from his literary achievements, Hugo also played a key role in French politics, serving in the National Assembly and the Senate. He was a vocal supporter of republicanism and his opposition to Napoleon III forced him to go into exile on the island of Guernsey from 1855 to 1870.

Victor Hugo's prodigious literary output, his unwavering activism, and his enduring influence on French literature make him a towering figure in the literary world. His work continues to be celebrated today for its powerful and timeless themes.

The greatest blunders, like the thickest ropes, are often co

The greatest blunders, like the thickest ropes, are often compounded of a multitude of strands.

Victor Hugo

Mistakes

There is in every village a torch - the teacher:and an extin

There is in every village a torch - the teacher:and an extinguisher - the clergyman.

Victor Hugo

Good Religion Evil Madness And Civilization

I repeat, whether we be Italians or Frenchmen, misery concer

I repeat, whether we be Italians or Frenchmen, misery concerns us all.

Victor Hugo

Humanity Misery Human Rights

There are men who dig for gold; [Monseigneur Bienvenu] dug f

There are men who dig for gold; [Monseigneur Bienvenu] dug for compassion.

Victor Hugo

Greed Gold Compassion Driving Forces

Para el obispo, la vista de la guillotina fue un golpe terri

Para el obispo, la vista de la guillotina fue un golpe terrible del cual tardó mucho tiempo en reponerse. En efecto: el patíbulo, cuando está ante nuestros ojos levantado, derecho, tiene algo que alucina. Se puede sentir cierta indiferencia hacia la pena de muerte, no pronunciarse ni en pro ni en contra, no decir ni sí ni que no mientras no se ha visto una guillotina; pero si se llega a ver una, la sacudida es violenta; es menester decidirse y tomar partido en pro o en contra de ella. Los unos admiran, como De Maistre; los otros execran, como Beccaria. La guillotina es la concreción de la ley: se llama 'vindicta'; no es indiferente ni os permite que lo seáis tampoco. Quien llega a verla se estremece con el más misterioso de los estremecimientos. Todas las cuestiones sociales alzan sus interrogantes en torno de aquella cuchilla. El cadalso es una visión: no es un tablado ni una máquina, ni un mecanismo frío de madera, de hierro y de cuerdas. Parece que es una especie de ser que tiene no sé qué sombría iniciativa. Se diría que aquellos andamios ven, que aquella madera, aquel hierro y aquellas cuerdas tienen voluntad. En la horrible meditación en que aquella vista sume al alma, el patíbulo aparece terrible y como teniendo conciencia de lo que hace. El patíbulo es el cómplice del verdugo; devora, come carne, bebe sangre. Es una especie de monstruo fabricado por el juez y por el carpintero; un espectro que parece vivir una especie de vida espantosa, hecha con todas las muertes que ha dado.

Victor Hugo

Novel

Die, very good, but do not make others die. Suicides like th

Die, very good, but do not make others die. Suicides like the one which is about to take place here are sublime, but suicide is restricted, and does not allow of extension; and so soon as it affects your neighbors, suicide becomes murder.

Victor Hugo

Suicide Revolution

These two beings, who had loved each other so exclusively, a

These two beings, who had loved each other so exclusively, and with so touching a love, and who had lived so long for each other, were now suffering beside one another and through one another; without speaking of it, without harsh feeling, and smiling all the while.

Victor Hugo

Suffering Les Miserables Cosette Jean Valjean Smiling

In this world, which is so plainly the antechamber of anothe

In this world, which is so plainly the antechamber of another, there are no happy men. The true division of humanity is between those who live in light and those who live in darkness. Our aim must be to diminish the number of the latter and increase

Victor Hugo

Humanity World

The ideal and the beautiful are identical; the ideal corresp

The ideal and the beautiful are identical; the ideal corresponds to the idea, and beauty to form; hence idea and substance are cognate.

Victor Hugo

Beauty

Each man should frame life so that at some future hour fact

Each man should frame life so that at some future hour fact and his dreaming meet.

Victor Hugo

Dreams

The mountains, the forest, and the sea, render men savage th

The mountains, the forest, and the sea, render men savage they develop the fierce, but yet do not destroy the human.

Victor Hugo

Men

He who opens a school door, closes a prison.

He who opens a school door, closes a prison.

Victor Hugo

Education

Smallness in a great man seems smaller by its disproportion

Smallness in a great man seems smaller by its disproportion with all the rest.

Victor Hugo

Great

Greater than the tread of mighty armies is an idea whose tim

Greater than the tread of mighty armies is an idea whose time has come.

Victor Hugo

Time

Because one doesn't like the way things are is no reason to

Because one doesn't like the way things are is no reason to be unjust towards God.

Victor Hugo

God

Peace is the virtue of civilization. War is its crime.

Peace is the virtue of civilization. War is its crime.

Victor Hugo

Peace

Scepticism, that dry caries of the intelligence.

Scepticism, that dry caries of the intelligence.

Victor Hugo

Intelligence

Books are cold but sure friends.

Books are cold but sure friends.

Victor Hugo

Books Reading

What Is Love? I have met in the streets a very poor young ma

What Is Love? I have met in the streets a very poor young man who was in love. His hat was old, his coat worn, the water passed through his shoes and the stars through his soul

Victor Hugo

Love Soul Stars

Architecture has recorded the great ideas of the human race.

Architecture has recorded the great ideas of the human race. Not only every religious symbol, but every human thought has its page in that vast book.

Victor Hugo

Great Architecture