“Jean Valjean entered the galleys sobbing and shuddering: he went out hardened; he entered in despair: he went out sullen.”

— Victor Hugo, Les Misérables (1862), tr. Charles E. Wilbour, Vol. 1, Book II, Ch. 6

About Victor Hugo

1802 – 1885

French poet and novelist, author of "Les Misérables" and "The Hunchback of Notre-Dame".

“Deeds of daring dazzle history and form one of man's guiding lights.”

“When grace is joined with wrinkles, it is adorable. There is an unspeakable dawn in happy old age.”

“One resists the invasion of armies; one does not resist the invasion of ideas.”

“The unexamined life is not worth living.”

“It is unlikely that the good of a snail should reside in its shell: so is it likely that the good of a man should?”

“In theory there is nothing to hinder our following what we are taught; but in life there are many things to draw us aside.”

“If to do were as easy as to know what were good to do, chapels had been churches, and poor men's cottages princes' palaces.”

“That which makes the man no worse than he was makes his life no worse: it has no power to harm, without or within.”

“Always take the short cut; and that is the rational one. Therefore say and do everything according to soundest reason.”