Victor Hugo

"There are chords in the human heart which had better not be awakened."

"Grief is the price we pay for love."

"It is nothing to die; it is frightful not to live."

"The wretched employ themselves, the rich amuse themselves."

"Where the telescope ends, the microscope begins."

"Be like the bird that, pausing in her flight awhile on boughs too slight, feels them give way beneath her weight, and yet sings on, knowing that she hath wings."

"The supreme question of our time is not communism versus individualism, but man versus the state."

"One cannot be deeply responsive to the world without being saddened very often."

"There is in the human heart a perpetual spring of new compassion."

"In this world, there is always some madness, and in madness there is always some genius."

"The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear."

"Love is like a tree: it grows by itself, roots itself deeply in our being and continues to flourish over a whole season of our lives."

"When a man is out of work, he is not the same man anymore."

"Religion is not a popular error; it is a grand inspiration."

"The supreme art of the teacher is to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge."

"A person is not poor if they can still laugh."

"The misery of being exploited by capitalists is nothing compared to the misery of not being exploited at all."

"There is no greater thing than friendship; even kings and philosophers have sought it."

"Eternity is a terrible thought. I want the present time and a cheerful disposition."

"The true way to render ourselves happy is to love our duty."

"One can resist the invasion of armies; one cannot resist the invasion of ideas."

"War is the gaping maw of hell itself."

"The architect of his own fortunes is everyone."

"Solitude is fine but you need someone to tell solitude is fine."

"Caresses, expressions of one kind or another, are necessary to the life of the affections as leaves are to the life of a tree."

"I drink the wine of life and pour out love like a libation."

"The wise man doesn't give the right answers, he poses the right questions."

"Sow virtue, reap custom."

"There is no greater teacher than adversity."

"To become a saint is a difficult affair; one must either die or kill."