As for the bishop, the sight of the guillotine was a great shock to him, from which he recovered only slowly.

I like the laughter that opens the lips and the heart, shows at the same time the pearls and the soul.

Nothing is so stifling as symmetry. Symmetry is boredom, the quintessence of mourning. Despair yawns. There is something more terrible than a hell of suffering - a hell of boredom.

Do not forget, do not ever forget, that you have promised me to use the money to make yourself an honest man.' Valjean, who did not recall having made any promise, was silent. The bishop had spoken the words slowly and deliberately. He concluded with a solemn emphasis: Jean Valjean, my brother, you no longer belong to what is evil but to what is good. I have bought your soul to save it from black thoughts and the spirit of perdition, and I give it to God.

I think, therefore I doubt.

The sewer is the conscience of the city.

People do not lack strength; they lack will.