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
Whenever a man's friends begin to compliment him about looking young, he may be sure that they think he is growing old.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Compliments on youthfulness often hint at the opposite truth of aging.
Victor Hugo's quote suggests that when friends start to compliment a man on looking young, it reflects their awareness that he is, in fact, aging. The statement highlights the irony of such compliments, implying that the need to affirm someone's youth often arises from the acknowledgment of their advancing age, creating a complex interplay between perception and reality in social interactions.
Themes
AgingYouthComplimentPerceptionFriendship
In practice
Example use cases
In a farewell speech, someone might use this quote to reflect on their growing age and the perceptions of their peers.
More from Victor Hugo
All quotes βWhen 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.
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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 Cosetteβs 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.
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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.
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Taste is the common sense of genius.
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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
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