How we cite our quotes: (Part.Book.Chapter.Line)
Quote #4
He pondered on the greatness and the living presence of God, on the mystery of eternity in the future and, even more strange, eternity in the past, on all the infinity manifest to his eyes and to his senses; and without seeking to comprehend the incomprehensible he contemplated these things. (1.1.13.9)
Bishop Myriel might be as near a saint as anyone in the book, but he isn't complacent about religion. He's unwaveringly kind, even as he wonders endlessly about all the things he doesn't know (and can never know) about God.
Quote #5
"He who knows the answer to this knows all things. He is alone. His name is God. (1.5.11.6)
When pushed to explain the meaning behind the story he's telling, Victor Hugo admits that only God really knows the truth behind human experience. Hugo is just a storyteller in the end, not a prophet. Does that make God the ultimate storyteller?
Quote #6
In the case of a woman permission might be granted and they might talk through the closed shutters, which were opened only for a mother or sister. (2.6.2.24)
Midway through this book, Jean Valjean and Cosette hide inside a convent to avoid capture by Inspector Javert. The nuns who live inside it aren't even allowed to speak to their own family face to face, because their choice of a holy life apparently prohibits them from engaging with the outside world. Here's the question: does Hugo seem to approve of this kind of religious life, or would he prefer these nuns to be out in the world doing good like Bishop Myriel?