The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that one is loved; loved for oneself, or better yet, loved despite oneself.
Nothing is so stifling as symmetry. Symmetry is boredom, the quintessence of mourning. Despair yawns. There is something more terrible than a hell of suffering, a hell of boredom.
Where the telescope ends, the microscope begins. Which of the two has the grander view?
Change your opinions, keep to your principles; change your leaves, keep intact your roots.
One sees qualities at a distance and defects at close range.
It is most pleasant to commit a just action which is disagreeable to someone whom one does not like.
All from Victor Hugo, 1802 – 1885
Thanks Liz!!!