The first proof of charity in a priest, and especially a bishop, is poverty.

We are for religion against the religions.

A poet is a world enclosed in a man.

Ma vie est une énigme dont ton nom est le mot. (My life is an enigma, of which your name is the word.)

Do not forget, do not ever forget, that you have promised me to use the money to make yourself an honest man.' Valjean, who did not recall having made any promise, was silent. The bishop had spoken the words slowly and deliberately. He concluded with a solemn emphasis: Jean Valjean, my brother, you no longer belong to what is evil but to what is good. I have bought your soul to save it from black thoughts and the spirit of perdition, and I give it to God.

A woman's best qualities are harmful if undiluted with prudence.

Woe, alas, to those who have loved only bodies, forms, appearances! Death will rob them of everything. Try to love souls, you will find them again.