# Quote — Victor Hugo, Les Miserables

> In '93, a coppersmith bought the house to pull it down, but not being able to pay the price for it, the nation sent him into bankruptcy. So that it was the house that pulled down the coppersmith.

- Author: [Victor Hugo](https://www.leafyquotes.com/victor-hugo.md)
- Book: [Les Miserables](https://www.leafyquotes.com/victor-hugo/les-miserables.md)
- Page: 740
- Original (fr): En 93, un chaudronnier avait acheté la maison pour la démolir, mais n’ayant pu en payer le prix, la nation le mit en faillite. De sorte que ce fut la maison qui démolit le chaudronnier.
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Les_Mis%C3%A9rables#Book_III_-_The_House_in_the_Rue_Plumet) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/victor-hugo/les-miserables/in-93-a-coppersmith

## More from this book

> Never am I seen with coats bedizened with gold and gems; I leave this false splendour to badly organized minds.

p. 1027 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/victor-hugo/les-miserables/never-am-i-seen.md)

> It is nothing to die; it is horrible not to live.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/victor-hugo/les-miserables/it-is-nothing.md)

> The soul does not give itself up to despair until it has exhausted all illusions.

p. 968 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/victor-hugo/les-miserables/the-soul-does.md)