All the human and animal manure which the world wastes, if returned to the land, instead of being thrown into the sea, would suffice to nourish the world.

He sought...to transform the grief which looks down into the grave by showing it the grief which looks up to the stars.

And so, being in Heaven, it was easy for him to lose sight of earth.

What is said about men often has as much influence upon their lives, and especially upon their destinies, as what they do.

...It all seemed to him to have disappeared as if behind a curtain at a theater. There are such curtains that drop in life. God is moving on to the next act.

Marius and Cosette were in the dark in regard to each other. They did not speak, they did not bow, they were not acquainted; they saw each other; and, like the stars in the sky separated by millions of leagues, they lived by gazing upon each other.

To love beauty is to see light.