Initiative is doing the right thing without being told.
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in Quotes & Aphorisms (Smile)
Jesus wept; Voltaire smiled. Of that divine tear and that human smile is composed the sweetness of the present civilization.
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To rescue from oblivion even a fragment of a language which men have used and which is in danger of being lost, that is to say, one of the elements, whether good or bad, which have shaped and complicated civilization, is to extend the scope of social observation and to serve civilization.
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in Quotes & Aphorisms (Moods)
This is the battle between day and night. I see black light.
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in Quotes & Aphorisms (Books)
A library implies an act of faith.
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Great perils have this beauty, that they bring to light the fraternity of strangers.
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God manifests himself to us in the first degree through the life of the universe, and in the second degree through the thought of man. The second manifestation is not less holy than the first. The first is named Nature, the second is named Art.
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In this world, which is so plainly the antechamber of another, there are no happy men. The true division of humanity is between those who live in light and those who live in darkness. Our aim must be to diminish the number of the latter and increase the number of the former. That is why we demand education and knowledge.
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Most commonly revolt is born of material circumstances; but insurrection is always a moral phenomenon. Revolt is Masaniello, who led the Neapolitan insurgents in 1647; but insurrection is Spartacus. Insurrection is a thing of the spirit, revolt is a thing of the stomach.
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This book, Les Misérables, is no less your mirror than ours. Certain men, certain castes, rise in revolt against this book, I understand that. Mirrors, those revealers of the truth, are hated; that does not prevent them from being of use. As for myself, I have written for all, with a profound love for my own country, but without being engrossed by France more than by any other nation. In proportion as I advance in life, I grow more simple, and I become more and more patriotic for humanity.
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