To rescue from oblivion even a fragment of a language which men have used and which is in danger of being lost -that is to say, one of the elements, whether good or bad, which have shaped and complicated civilization -is to extend the scope of social observation and to serve civilization.

Philosophy is the microscope of thought.

In 1815, M. Charles Francois-Bienvenu Myriel was Bishop of D-----. He was a man of seventy-five, and had occupied the bishopric of D----- since 1806. Although it in no manner concerns, even in the remotest degree, what we have to relate, it may not be useless, were it only for the sake of exactness in all things, to notice here the reports and gossip which had arisen on his account from the time of his arrival in the diocese.

A few feet under the ground reigns so profound a silence, and yet so much tumult on the surface!

Idleness is the heaviest of all oppressions.

To be a saint is the exception; to be a just person is the rule. Err, stumble, commit sin, but be one of the just.

I have been loving you a little more every minute since this morning.