Every blade has two edges; he who wounds with one wounds himself with the other.

Mirrors, those revealers of the truth, are hated; that does not prevent them from being of use.

My revenge is fraternity! No more frontiers! The Rhine for everyone! Let us be the same Republic, let us be the United States of Europe, let us be the continental federation, let us be European liberty, let us be universal peace!

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

The ideal and the beautiful are identical; the ideal corresponds to the idea, and beauty to form; hence idea and substance are cognate.

As for the author, he is profoundly unaware of what the classical or romantic genre might consist of.... In literature, as in allthings, there is only the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly, the true and the false.

Diamonds are found only in the dark places of the earth, truths are found only in the depths of thought.