We would be ashamed of our best behavior if the people knew the motives of our behaving so.

I'd rather be hissed at for a good verse, than applauded for a bad one.

He who contemplates the depths of Paris is seized with vertigo. Nothing is more fantastic. Nothing is more tragic. Nothing is more sublime.

The holy law of Jesus Christ governs our civilisation, but it does not yet permeate it.

Love is the salutation of the angel to the stars

From the oyster to the eagle, from the swine to the tiger, all animals are to be found in men and each of them exists in some man, sometimes several at the time. Animals are nothing but the portrayal of our virtues and vices made manifest to our eyes, the visible reflections of our souls. God displays them to us to give us food for thought.

Ah," cried Gavroche, "what does this mean? It rains again! ...If this continues, I withdraw my subscription.