There is a spectacle more grand than the sea; it is heaven; there is a spectacle more grand than heaven; it is the conscience.

Common sense is in spite of, not as the result of education.

The jostling of young minds against each other has this wonderful attribute, that one can never foresee the spark, nor predict the flash. What will spring up in a moment? Nobody knows.

No matter who you are, the thought of so much suffering and degradation must cause you to shudder at the sight of a veil or cassock, those two shrouds of human invention.

The left-handed are precious; they take places which are inconvenient for the rest.

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

The thirst for the Infinite proves infinity.