50 timeless quotes from les miserables trial#

At stake in the battle of Waterloo was the future of the French empire built by Napoleon - his defeat at Waterloo resulted in the reinstatement of the monarchy in the form of the Bourbon kings. Victor Hugo includes a substantial interlude (an entire chapter) on the events and significance of Waterloo, of which this quotation is a part. Napoleon's famous army was depended on artillery, but they were prevented from using it in this battle. The wet earth caused by the rain made it impossible for the heavy artillery (such as cannons) to maneuver easily, and allowed time for Blücher, who was leading one of the reinforcements to the English side, to arrive.

An unseasonably clouded sky sufficed to bring about the collapse of a world. Providence needs only a downpour of rain to make Waterloo the retort to Austerlitz. A few drops of water, more or less, were what decided Napoleon's fate. Had it not rained in the night of 17-18 June 1815, the future of Europe would have been different. This passing meditation on the importance of love is one of the most famous quotes from the novel. Their enduring love for him warms his last days.

50 timeless quotes from les miserables trial#

But for this big-hearted man, blindness is not a terror or a trial his sister, Baptistine, and his maid, Madame Magliore, care him for tenderly. In the last few years of Myriel's life, he becomes blind. The supreme happiness in life is the assurance of being loved of being loved for oneself, even in spite of oneself. Just as it was within his abilities to become a hardened felon who would steal from anyone, it is also within his power to become a man of great kindness and generosity. He realizes that he must model his life on Bishop Myriel's generous life. The terrible guilt he feels after stealing a coin from a child makes him realize that he cannot support himself through a life of crime anymore. See Also 50 Timeless Quotes From Les Misérables - LifeHack The 25 best songs from Les Mis - rankedĭid any voice whisper to him that he was at a turning-point in his life, that henceforth there could be no middle way for him, that he must become either the best of men or the worst, rise even higher than the bishop himself or sink lower than the felon, reach supreme heights of goodness or become a monster of depravity?Īfter Myriel pardons Valjean by saying that the stolen silver was a gift, Valjean is forced to reexamine himself.