It seemed to be a necessary ritual that he should prepare himself for sleep by meditating under the solemnity of the night sky... a mysterious transaction between the infinity of the soul and the infinity of the universe.
Victor HugoRead
Every bird which flies has the thread of the infinite in its claw. Germination includes the hatching of a meteor and the tap of a swallow's bill breaking the egg, and it leads forward the birth of an earth-worm and the advent of Socrates.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that all forms of life are interconnected and that each birth or creation is part of a greater cosmic thread.
Victor Hugo implies that every creature that takes flight embodies a connection to the boundless possibilities of existence, symbolized by the 'thread of the infinite.' He elaborates on the idea that the process of growth and emergence, represented by various life forms, from the humble earthworm to the great philosopher Socrates, is part of a unified continuum that transcends the individual moments of birth and creation.
Themes
InfinityBirthGrowthConnectionPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about the interconnectedness of life.
More from Victor Hugo
All quotes →When two mouths, made sacred by love, draw near to each other to create, it is impossible, that above that ineffable kiss there should not be a thrill in the immense mystery of the stars.
Victor HugoRead
At that moment of love, a moment when passion is absolutely silent under omnipotence of ecstasy, Marius, pure seraphic Marius, would have been more capable of visiting a woman of the streets than of raising Cosette’s dress above the ankle. Once on a moonlit night, Cosette stopped to pick up something from the ground, her dress loosened and revealed the swelling of her breasts. Marius averted his eyes.
Victor HugoRead
Thought is the work of the intellect, reverie is its self-indulgence. To substitute day-dreaming for thought is to confuse a poison with a source of nourishment.
Victor HugoRead
Taste is the common sense of genius.
Victor HugoRead
Forget not, never forget that you have promised me to use this silver to become an honest man.... Jean Valjean, my brother: you belong no longer to evil, but to good. It is your soul that I am buying for you. I withdraw it from dark thoughts and from the spirit of perdition, and I give it to God!
Victor HugoRead
Similar quotes
I spent a long time looking at faces, drinking in smiles. Am I happy or unhappy? It’s not a very important question. I live with such frenzied intensity. Things and people are waiting for me, and doubtless I am waiting for them and desiring them with all my strength and sadness. But, here, I earn the right to be alive by silence and by secrecy. The miracle of not having to talk about oneself.
Albert CamusRead
I cry very easily. It can be a movie, a phone conversation, a sunset - tears are words waiting to be written.
Paulo CoelhoRead
I have no idea where I'm going but here's the real question: What am I doing here in the first place?
Art BuchwaldRead
We live in oppressive times. We have, as a nation, become our own thought police; but instead of calling the process by which we limit our expression of dissent and wonder ‘censorship,’ we call it ‘concern for commercial viability.
David MametRead
It's hard for me to view Baltimore outside the context of what Baltimore has always been in my mind: a violent place.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesRead
A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other.
Charles DickensRead