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 afterwa...
He visited the poor so long as he had any money; when he no longer had any, he visited the rich.
He therefore turned to mankind only with regret. His cathedral was enough for him. It was peopled with marble figures of kings, saints and bishops who at least did not laugh in his face and looked at...
He sleeps although so much he was denied. He lived and when his dear love left him died. It happened of itself, in the easy way that in the morning night time follows day
He set out for Toulon. He arrived there, after a journey of twenty-seven days, on a cart, with a chain on his neck. At Toulon he was clothed in the red cassock. All that had constituted his life, even...
He held his hat in his hand; there was no disorder in his clothing; his coat was carefully buttoned: he was very pale, and he trembled slightly; his hair, which had still been gray on his arrival in A...
He had no shelter, no bread, no fire, no love; but he was merry because he was free.
He had a small but well stocked library. He loved books; books are a remote but reliable friend.
He flew into a rage on every occasion, most frequently when wrong.
He felt that to increase his knowledge was to strengthen his hatred. Under certain circumstances, instruction and enlightenment may serve as rallying points for evil.
Great perils share this beauty, that they bring to light the fraternity of strangers.
Great grief is a divine and terrible radiance which transfigures the wretched.
God must not be judged from appearances. Beneath the gilding of heaven I perceive a poverty-stricken universe. Creation is bankrupt.
For those who love solitude, a walk in the early morning is equivalent to a stroll by night, with the cheerfulness of nature added.
For that matter, said Toussaint, it's true. We would be assassinated before we'd have time to say Boo!And then, since Monsieur doesn't sleep in the house. But don't be afraid, mademoiselle, I fasten t...
For Marius to arrive at this flourishing condition had required years. Hard years, and difficult ones; those to get through, these to climb. Marius had never given up for a single day. He had undergon...
Every good quality runs into a defect; economy borders on avarice, the generous are not far from the prodigal, the brave man is close to the bully; he who is very pious is slightly sanctimonious; ther...
Every blade has two edges; he who wounds with the one is wounded with the other.
Does human nature thus change utterly and from top to bottom? Can the man created good by God be rendered wicked by man? Can the soul be completely made over by fate, and become evil, fate being evil?...
Do you know what friendship is?' he asked. 'Yes,' answered the gipsy; 'it is to be brother and sister, two souls which meet without mingling, two fingers of one hand.' 'And love?' continued Gringoire....