Let us lament as over stomachs, over minds which do not eat. If there is anything more poignant than a body… — Victor Hugo

Let us lament as over stomachs, over minds which do not eat. If there is anything more poignant than a body agonising for want of bread, it is a soul which is dying of hunger for light.

In the original (French)

Plaignons, à l’égal des estomacs, les esprits qui ne mangent pas. S’il y a quelque chose de plus poignant qu’un corps agonisant faute de pain, c’est une âme qui meurt de la faim de la lumière.

p. 842Source: Wikiquote · CC BY-SA 4.0