Separated lovers cheat absence by a thousand fancies which have their own reality. They are prevented from seeing one another and they cannot write; nevertheless they find countless mysterious ways of corresponding, by sending each other the song of birds, the scent of flowers, the laughter of children, the light of the sun, the sighing of the wind, and the gleam of the stars --all the beauties of creation. - (Hugo, Victor - Absence)

Initiative is doing the right thing without being told. - (Hugo, Victor - Action)

Our acts make or mar us, we are the children of our own deeds. - (Hugo, Victor - Action)

Adversity makes men, and prosperity makes monsters. - (Hugo, Victor - Adversity)

When grace is joined with wrinkles, it is adorable. There is an unspeakable dawn in happy old age. - (Hugo, Victor - Age and Aging)

Forty is the old age of youth, fifty is the youth of old age. - (Hugo, Victor - Age and Aging)

Be as a bird perched on a frail branch that she feels bending beneath her, still she sings away all the same, knowing she has wings. - (Hugo, Victor - Animals)

From the oyster to the eagle, from the swine to the tiger, all animals are to be found in men and each of them exists in some man, sometimes several at the time. Animals are nothing but the portrayal of our virtues and vices made manifest to our eyes, the visible reflections of our souls. God displays them to us to give us food for thought. - (Hugo, Victor - Animals)

Strong and bitter words indicate a weak cause. - (Hugo, Victor - Argument)

Certain thoughts are prayers. There are moments when, whatever be the attitude of the body, the soul is on its knees. - (Hugo, Victor - Attitude)

Loving is half of believing. - (Hugo, Victor - Belief)

We may remark in passing that to be blind and beloved may, in this world where nothing is perfect, be among the most strangely exquisite forms of happiness. The supreme happiness in life is the assurance of being loved; of being loved for oneself, even in spite of oneself; and this assurance the blind man possesses. In his affliction, to be served is to be caressed. Does he lack anything? no. Possessing love he is not deprived of light. A love, moreover, that is wholly pure. There can be no blindness where there is this certainty. - (Hugo, Victor - Blindness)

To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark. - (Hugo, Victor - Books - Reading)

It is from books that wise people derive consolation in the troubles of life. - (Hugo, Victor - Books - Reading)

As the purse is emptied, the heart is filled. - (Hugo, Victor - Charity)