Nineteenth century

Victor Hugo

1802–1885

Novelist of Les Misérables

The novel is a moral argument the length of a city. The musical’s anthems are not his lines. What he does say about happiness is quieter: the conviction that one is loved, for oneself.

In the canon

  1. The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved; loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.Les Misérables

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