Water! pretending to be pure, thou resemblest false friends. Thou art warm at the top and cold at bottom.

Mirrors, those revealers of the truth, are hated; that does not prevent them from being of use.

Well, for us, in history where goodness is a rare pearl, he who was good almost takes precedence over he who was great.

A beautiful woman is a casus belli; a pretty woman is flagrant misdemeanour. All the invasions of history have been determined by petticoats.

The joy which we inspire has this charming property, that, far from growing meagre, like all reflections, it returns to us more radiant than ever. At recreation hours, Jean Valjean watched her running and playing in the distance, and he distinguished her laugh from that of the rest. For Cosette laughed now.

I tell you, monsieur, it's the end of the world. The students' behaviour has never been so outrageous. It's all these damnable modern inventions that are the ruin of everything.

It was the second white apparition which he had encountered. The Bishop had caused the dawn of virtue to rise on his horizon; Cosette caused the dawn of love to rise.