There is a material advancement; we desire it. There is, also, a moral grandeur; we hold fast to it.

To die for lack of love is horrible. The asphyxia of the soul.

The mountains, the forest, and the sea, render men savage; they develop the fierce, but yet do not destroy the human.

To destroy abuses is not enough; Habits must also be changed. The windmill has gone, but the wind is still there." ~old man G--- to Monseigneur Bienvenu Myriel

His universal compassion was due less to natural instinct, than to a profound conviction, a sum of thoughts that in the course of living had filtered through to his heart: for in the nature of man, as in rock, there may be channels hollowed by the dropping of water, and these can never be destroyed.

We must never fear robbers or murderers. They are dangers from outside, small dangers. It is ourselves we have to fear. Prejudice is the real robber, vice the real murderer. Why should we be troubled by a threat to our person or our pocket? What we have to beware of is the threat to our souls'.

Of all the things that God has made, the human heart is the one which sheds the most light, alas! and the most darkness.