Victor Hugo was a French poet, novelist, playwright, essayist, and dramatist of a movement called the ‘Romantic Movement’; living from 1805 to 1885. Victor is considered to be one of the greatest French writers of all time. He has honored by interment in the Pantheon.

Check out these inspirational Victor Hugo quotes on life, love, and existential thought!

Here are 50 Motivational Victor Hugo Quotes:

1. “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

2. “To put everything in balance is good, to put everything in harmony is better.” – Victor Hugo

3. “An intelligent hell would be better than a stupid paradise.” – Victor Hugo

4. “As with stomachs, we should pity minds that do not eat.” – Victor Hugo

5. “The pupil dilates in darkness and in the end finds light, just as the soul dilates in misfortune and in the end finds God.” – Victor Hugo

6. “There is something more terrible than a hell of suffering – a hell of boredom.” – Victor Hugo

7. “He who opens a school door, closes a prison.” – Victor Hugo

8. “This first glance of a soul which does not yet know itself is like dawn in the heavens; it is the awakening of something radiant and unknown.” – Victor Hugo

9. “The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved; loved for ourselves—say rather, loved in spite of ourselves.” – Victor Hugo

10. “Let us sacrifice one day to gain perhaps a whole life.” – Victor Hugo

11. “A mother’s arms are made of tenderness and children sleep soundly in them.” – Victor Hugo

12. “Nothing makes a man so adventurous as an empty pocket.” – Victor Hugo

 

13. “You who suffer because you love, love still more! To die of love, is to live by it.” – Victor Hugo

14. “The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved, loved for ourselves, or rather loved in spite of ourselves.” – Victor Hugo

15. “Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.” – Victor Hugo

16. “There are thoughts which are prayers. There are moments when, whatever the posture of the body, the soul is on its knees.” – Victor Hugo

17. “People do not lack strength; they lack will.” – Victor Hugo

18. “Nobody loves the light like the blind man.” – Victor Hugo

19. “Morality is truth in full bloom.” – Victor Hugo

20. “For there are many great deeds done in the small struggles of life.” – Victor Hugo

21. “Our mind is enriched by what we receive, our heart by what we give.” – Victor Hugo

22. “It is nothing to die. It is frightful not to live.” – Victor Hugo

23. “Common sense is in spite of, not the result of, education.” – Victor Hugo

24. “Life is a theatre set in which there are but few practicable entrances.” – Victor Hugo

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26. “No army can withstand the strength of an idea whose time has come.” – Victor Hugo

27. “Love is the foolishness of men, and the wisdom of God.” – Victor Hugo

28. “The paradise of the rich is made out of the hell of the poor.” – Victor Hugo

29. “Change your opinions, keep to your principles; change your leaves, keep intact your roots.” – Victor Hugo

30. “Not being heard is no reason for silence.” – Victor Hugo

31. “When you get an idea into your head you find it in everything.” – Victor Hugo

32. “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

33. “To love another person is to see the face of God.” – Victor Hugo

34. “When grace is joined with wrinkles, it is adorable. There is an unspeakable dawn in happy old age.” – Victor Hugo

35. “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

36. “Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.” – Victor Hugo

37. “Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for the small ones; and when you have laboriously accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace. God is awake.” – Victor Hugo

 

38. “Faith is necessary to men; woe to him who believes in nothing!” – Victor Hugo

39. “Love is the only future God offers.” – Victor Hugo

40. “There is nothing like a dream to create the future.” – Victor Hugo

41. “Let us study things that are no more. It is necessary to understand them, if only to avoid them.” – Victor Hugo

42. “Those who do not weep, do not see.” – Victor Hugo

43. “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

44. “Life is the flower for which love is the honey.” – Victor Hugo

45. “Reason is intelligence taking exercise. Imagination is intelligence with an erection.” – Victor Hugo

46. “Laughter is sunshine, it chases winter from the human face.” – Victor Hugo

47. “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

48. “Where no plan is laid, where the disposal of time is surrendered merely to the chance of incidence, chaos will soon reign.” – Victor Hugo

49. “Teach the ignorant as much as you can; society is culpable in not providing a free education for all and it must answer for the night which it produces. If the soul is left in darkness, sins will be committed.” – Victor Hugo

50. “To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark.” – Victor Hugo

Which Victor Hugo quote is your favorite and why? Comment below!