Victor Hugo Quotes

France, Politician
February 26, 1802 – May, 22, 1885.

Victor Marie Hugo (French: [viktɔʁ maʁi yɡo] ( listen); 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic movement. Hugo is considered to be one of the greatest and best-known French writers. Outside of France, his most famous works are the novels Les Misérables, 1862, and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (French: Notre-Dame de Paris), 1831. In France, Hugo is known primarily for his poetry collections, such as Les Contemplations (The Contemplations) and La Légende des siècles (The Legend of the Ages).

Also known as Playwright, Drawer, Librettist, Essayist, Memoirist, Writer, Illustrator, Travel Writer, Poet

The flesh is the surface of the unknown.

Victor Hugo
- Unknown
- Surface
- Flesh
Society is a republic. When an individual tries to lift themselves above others, they are dragged down by the mass, either by ridicule or slander.

Victor Hugo
- Society
- Individual
- Down

Men like me are impossible until the day when they become necessary.

Victor Hugo
- Men
- Day
- Impossible
It is from books that wise people derive consolation in the troubles of life.

Victor Hugo
- People
- Life
- Wise
Inanimate objects sometimes appear endowed with a strange power of sight. A statue notices, a tower watches, the face of an edifice contemplates.

Victor Hugo
- Power
- Notices
- Edifice
The ox suffers, the cart complains.

Victor Hugo
- Suffers
- Complains
- Cart
Whatever causes night in our souls may leave stars.

Victor Hugo
- Night
- Stars
- Souls
To think is of itself to be useful; it is always and in all cases a striving toward God.

Victor Hugo
- God
- Think
- Striving

Revolution is the larva of civilization.

Victor Hugo
Close by the Rights of Man, at the least set beside them, are the Rights of the Spirit.

Victor Hugo
- Man
- Spirit
- Rights
Peace is the virtue of civilization. War is its crime.

Victor Hugo
- War
- Peace
- Civilization
Greater than the tread of mighty armies is an idea whose time has come.

Victor Hugo
- Time
- Idea
- Greater
If people did not love one another, I really don't see what use there would be in having any spring.

Victor Hugo
- People
- Spring
- Not Love
What Shakespeare was able to do in English he would certainly not have done in French.

Victor Hugo
- Done
- English
- French

As a means of contrast with the sublime, the grotesque is, in our view, the richest source that nature can offer.

Victor Hugo
- Nature
- View
- Contrast
To be perfectly happy it does not suffice to possess happiness, it is necessary to have deserved it.

Victor Hugo
Men become accustomed to poison by degrees.

Victor Hugo
- Men
- Become
- Poison
My tastes are aristocratic, my actions democratic.

Victor Hugo
When dictatorship is a fact, revolution becomes a right.

Victor Hugo
- Revolution
- Dictatorship
Jésus a pleuré, Voltaire a souri; c’est de cette larme divine et de ce sourire humain qu’est faite la douceur de la civilisation actuelle.

Victor Hugo

When liberty returns, I will return.

Victor Hugo
- Liberty
- Will
- Return
An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come.

Victor Hugo
- Time
- Idea
- Invasion
No army can withstand the strength of an idea whose time has come.

Victor Hugo
- Time
- Idea
- Army
To rise from error to truth is rare and beautiful.

Victor Hugo
- Truth
- Beautiful
- Truth Is