Quotable: Victor Hugo on progress and revolutions

“Progress infallibly wakes up, and, in short, we might say that it advances even in sleep, for it has grown. When we see it upright again, we find it taller. To be always peaceful belongs to progress no more than to the river; raise no obstruction, throw in no rocks; the obstacle makes water foam and humanity seethe. Hence troubles; but after these troubles, we recognize that there has been some ground gained. Until order, which is nothing more nor less than universal peace, is established, until harmony and unity reign, progress will have revolutions for way stations.”

— Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

Share this story:
This entry was posted in Quotable Notables. Bookmark the permalink.