Victor Hugo, the iconic French writer whose fame largely stems from his novels “Notre-Dame de Paris” (1831) and “Les Misérables” (1862). However, he’s not just about his novels – he also produced some beautifully lyrical poetry. Delve into the timeless wisdom of the best Victor Hugo quotes about life, love, music, architecture, and more.
His insightful words have left footprints on hearts across time. From the love that sets souls on fire to the grit to stand up for what’s right, Hugo’s got it all covered.
Victor Hugo’s literary career spanned more than sixty years in which he wrote in multiple genres and forms, including poetry, novels, drama, and essays.
His passion for work earned him success and fame at a very young age. He published his first book of poetry, Odes et poésies diverses when he was just 20 years old.
Moreover, he was also a politician, becoming both a deputy and later senator. He also campaigned for social causes such as the abolition of capital punishment.
Hugo influenced many people during his time and his opposition to absolutism made him a national hero.
Here is a list of inspirational quotes by Victor Hugo about love, life, religion, and more to inspire and motivate you.
Top 10 Victor Hugo Quotes
- “What a grand thing to be loved!” — Victor Hugo
- “Those who live are those who fight.” — Victor Hugo
- “Not being heard is no reason for silence.” — Victor Hugo
- “People do not lack strength; they lack will.” — Victor Hugo
quotes by victor hugo - “Life is the flower for which love is the honey.” — Victor Hugo
- “Strong and bitter words indicate a weak cause.” — Victor Hugo
- “Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.” — Victor Hugo
quotes from victor hugo - “Love is the foolishness of men, and the wisdom of God.” — Victor Hugo
- “Our mind is enriched by what we receive, our heart by what we give.” — Victor Hugo
victor hugo quotes - “Sacrificing the earth for paradise is giving up the substance for the shadow.” — Victor Hugo
Deep Victor Hugo Quotes
- “Being good is easy, what is difficult is being just.” ― Victor Hugo
- “Common sense is in spite of, not the result of, education.” ― Victor Hugo
- “Adversity makes men, and prosperity makes monsters.” ― Victor Hugo
- “Those who do not weep, do not see.” ― Victor Hugo, Les Misérables
- “To die is nothing, but it is terrible not to live.” ― Victor Hugo, Les Misérables
- “The paradise of the rich is made out of the hell of the poor.” ― Victor Hugo, The Man Who Laughs
- “To put everything in balance is good, to put everything in harmony is better.” ― Victor Hugo
- “No army can withstand the strength of an idea whose time has come.” ― Victor Hugo
- “Nothing makes a man so adventurous as an empty pocket.” ― Victor Hugo, The Hunchback of Notre Dame
- “When you get an idea into your head you find it in everything.” ― Victor Hugo, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame
Best Quotes From Victor Hugo
- “Inspiration and genius–one and the same.” — Victor Hugo
- “To love another person is to see the face of God.” — Victor Hugo
- “There is nothing like a dream to create the future.” — Victor Hugo
- “It is by suffering that human beings become angels.” — Victor Hugo
- “Hope is the word which God has written on the brow of every man.” — Victor Hugo
- “Try as you will, you cannot annihilate that eternal relic of the human heart, love.” — Victor Hugo
- “The guilty one is not he who commits the sin, but the one who causes the darkness.” — Victor Hugo
- “The miserable’s name is Man; he is agonizing in all climes, and he is in all languages.” — Victor Hugo
- “When grace is joined with wrinkles, it is adorable. There is an unspeakable dawn of happy old age.” — Victor Hugo
- “There are thoughts which are prayers. There are moments when, whatever the posture of the body, the soul is on its knees.” — Victor Hugo
- “The future has several names. For the weak, it is impossible; for the fainthearted, it is unknown; but for the valiant, it is ideal.” — Victor Hugo
- “The human soul has still greater need of the ideal than of the real. It is by the real that we exist, it is by the ideal that we love.” — Victor Hugo
Uplifting Victor Hugo Quotes
- “Morality is truth in full bloom.” ― Victor Hugo
- “He who opens a school door, closes a prison.” — Victor Hugo
- “Initiative is doing the right thing without being told.” — Victor Hugo
- “Nothing is stronger than an idea whose time has come.” — Victor Hugo
- “Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.” — Victor Hugo
- “There is something more terrible than a hell of suffering–a hell of boredom.” — Victor Hugo
- “You who suffer because you love, love still more. To die of love, is to live by it.” — Victor Hugo
- “Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.” — Victor Hugo
- “The reduction of the universe to a single being, the expansion of a single being even to God, this is love.” — Victor Hugo
- “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.” — Victor Hugo
Famous Victor Hugo Quotes On Life
- “Life is a voyage.” — Victor Hugo
- “Let us sacrifice one day to gain perhaps whole life.” — Victor Hugo
- “Fame must have enemies, as light must have gnats.” — Victor Hugo
- “God is behind everything, but everything hides God.” — Victor Hugo
- “It is from book that wise people derives consolation in the troubles of life.” — Victor Hugo
- “It is man’s consolation that the future is to be a sunrise instead of a sunset.” — Victor Hugo
- “To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark.” — Victor Hugo
- “At the end of life death is a departure; but at life’s beginning a departure is death.” — Victor Hugo
- “Each man should frame life so that at some future hour fact and his dreaming meet.” — Victor Hugo
- “Change your opinions, keep to your principles; change your leaves, keep intact your roots.” — Victor Hugo
- “There is always more misery among the lower classes than there is humanity in the higher.” — Victor Hugo
- “The great acts of love are done by those who are habitually performing small acts of kindness.” — Victor Hugo
- “A man is not idle because he is absorbed in thought. There is a visible labor and there is an invisible labor.” — Victor Hugo
- “Let us fear ourselves. Prejudice are the real robbers; vices are the real murderers. The great dangers lie within ourselves.” — Victor Hugo
Quotes By Victor Hugo
- “What I feel for you seems less of earth and more of a cloudless heaven.” — Victor Hugo
- “The first symptom of love in a young man is timidity; in a girl boldness.” — Victor Hugo
- “Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for the small ones;” — Victor Hugo
- “If people did not love one another, I really don’t see what use there would be in having any spring.” — Victor Hugo
- “To love or have loved, that is enough. Ask nothing further. There is no other pearl to be found in the dark folds of life.” — Victor Hugo
- “Love is a portion of the soul itself, and it is of the same nature as the celestial breathing of the atmosphere of paradise.” — Victor Hugo
- “When a man understands the art of seeing, he can trace the spirit of an age and the features of a king even in the knocker on a door.” — Victor Hugo
- “To give thanks in solitude is enough. Thanksgiving has wings and goes where it must go. Your prayer knows much more about it than you do.” — Victor Hugo
- “Few people dare now to say that two beings have fallen in love because they have looked at each other. Yet it is in this way that love begins, and in this way only.” — Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo Quotes
- “To love and be loved, that is the miracle of youth.” — Victor Hugo, Les Misérables
- “The most powerful symptom of love is a tenderness which becomes at times almost insupportable.” — Victor Hugo
- “A day will come when there will be no battlefields, but markets opening to commerce and minds opening to ideas.” — Victor Hugo
- “That’s life,” said the philosopher each time he was almost laid prostrate. “It’s often our best friends who make us fall.” — Victor Hugo
- “If you wish to understand what Revolution is, call it Progress; and if you wish to understand what Progress is, call it Tomorrow.” — Victor Hugo
- “What Is Love? I have met in the streets a very poor young man who was in love. His hat was old, his coat worn, the water passed through his shoes and the stars through his soul.” — Victor Hugo
- “Emergencies have always been necessary to progress. ” — Victor Hugo
- “Christianity leads poetry to the truth. Like it, the modern muse will see things in a higher and broader light. It will realize that everything in creation is not humanly beautiful, that the ugly exists beside the beautiful, the unshapely beside the graceful, the grotesque on the reverse of the sublime, evil with good, darkness with light.” — Victor Hugo
- “The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved, loved for ourselves, or rather loved in spite of ourselves.” — Victor Hugo
More About Victor Hugo’s Life
Victor Hugo was a renowned French Romantic writer, novelist, dramatist, and politician, best known for his famous novels
His poems earned praise for their warmth and fluency, but the collection that followed four years later in 1826, titled Odes et Ballades, earned him actual recognition as a great poet—a master of lyrics and creative song.
In 1823 Hugo published his first novel, Han d’Islande, and published several plays after that. His most celebrated work, Notre-Dame de Paris (The Hunchback of Notre Dame), was published in 1831, that highlights his appreciation for architecture and history.
By the 1840s, Hugo was considered one of the most influential literary figures in France.
Hugo took a step back from writing after the accidental drowning of his daughter and her husband. However, he started to work on his most famous work, Les Misérables, which he published in 1862, and became an instant success, making it one of his best-known works of literature.
He died on 22 May 1885, at the age of 83.
Hugo was buried in the Panthéon of Paris which was attended by over 2 million people, making it the largest in French history.
His legacy continues through his literary works and continues to inspire generations of writers and artists.
Conclusion
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