It is those books which a man possesses but does not read which constitute the most suspicious evidence against him.

Woman, nude, is the blue sky. Clouds and garments are an obstacle to contemplation. Beauty and infinity would be gazed upon unveiled.

Who can be sure that Jean Valjean had not been on the verge of losing heart and giving up the struggle? In loving he recovered his strength. But the truth is that he was no less vulnerable than Cosette. He protected her and she sustained him. Thanks to him she could go forward into life, and thanks to her he could continue virtous. He was the child's support and she his mainstay. Sublime, unfathomable marvel of the balance of destiny!

When I speak to you about myself, I am speaking to you about yourself. How is it you don't see that?

Astronomy, that micography of heaven, is the most magnificent of the sciences. ... Astronomy has its clear side and its luminous side; on its clear side it is tinctured with algebra, on its luminous side with poetry.

The little people must be sacred to the big ones, and it is from the rights of the weak that the duty of the strong is comprised.

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