Quotes about Life
The book the reader has now before his eyes - from one end to the other, in its whole and in its details, whatever the omissions, the exceptions, or the faults - is the march from evil to good, from injustice to justice, from the false to the true, from night to day, from appetite to conscience, from rottenness to life, from brutality to duty, from Hell to Heaven, from nothingness to God. Starting point: matter; goal: the soul. Hydra at the beginning, angel at the end.
— Victor Hugo
And must I now begin to doubt - who never doubted all these years? My heart is stone, and still it trembles. The world I have known is lost in the shadows. Is he from heaven or from hell? And does he know, that granting me my life today, this man has killed me, even so. - Javert
— Victor Hugo
It all seemed to him to have disappeared as if behind a curtain at a theater. There are such curtains that drop in life. God is moving on to the next act.
— Victor Hugo
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
She worked in order to live, and presently fell in love, also in order to live, for the heart, too, has its hunger.
— Victor Hugo
Profound hearts, wise minds, take life as God makes it; it is a long trial, and unintelligible preparation for the unknown destiny.
— Victor Hugo
That men saw his mask, but the bishop saw his face. That men saw his life, but the bishop saw his conscience.
— Victor Hugo
If we wish to be happy, monsieur, we must never comprehend duty; for, as soon as we comprehend it, it is implacable. One would say that it punishes you for comprehending it; but no, it rewards you for it; for it puts you into a hell where you feel God at your side.
— Victor Hugo
Death belongs to God alone. By what right do men touch that unknown thing?
— Victor Hugo
Ye who suffer because ye love, love yet more. To die of love, is to live in it.
— Victor Hugo
Not ill? No truly, I am young, healthful, and strong; the blood flows freely in my veins; my limbs obey my will; I am robust in mind and body, constituted for a long life. Yes, all this is true; and yet, nevertheless, I have an illness, a fatal illness,--an illness given by the hand of man!
— Victor Hugo
Voyager, c'est naître et mourir à chaque instant.
— Victor Hugo