The supreme ordeal, let us say rather, the only ordeal, is the loss of the beloved being.

Daring is the price of progress. All splendid conquests are the prize of boldness, more or less.

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

I don't mind what Congress does, as long as they don't do it in the streets and frighten the horses.

One drop of wine is enough to redden a whole glass of water.

Inanimate objects sometimes appear endowed with a strange power of sight. A statue notices, a tower watches, the face of an edifice contemplates.

Philosophy should be an energy; it should find its aim and its effect in the amelioration of mankind.