Marius was of the temperament that sinks into grief and remains there; Cosette was of the sort that plunges in and comes out again.

To introduce a new play only six weeks after another has been banned is also a way to speak one's piece to the government. It proves that art and liberty can grow back in one night under the clumsy foot which crushes them.

Conscience is God present in man.

The man who does not know other languages, unless he is a man of genius, necessarily has deficiencies in his ideas.

There are moments when a rope's end, a pole, the branch of the tree, is life itself, and it is a frightful thing to see a living being lose his hold upon it, and fall like a ripe fruit.

As the purse is emptied, the heart is filled.

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; there are just as many vices to virtue as there are holes in the mantle of Diogenes.