# Quote — Victor Hugo, Les Miserables

> Unreflecting, headlong minds say: "Of what use are those motionless figures by the side of mystery? What purpose do they serve? What do they effect?"Alas! in the presence of that obscurity which surrounds us and awaits us, not knowing what the vast dispersion of all things will do with us, we answer: There is, perhaps, no work more sublime than that which is accomplished by these souls; and we add, There is no labour, perhaps, more useful.

- Author: [Victor Hugo](https://www.leafyquotes.com/victor-hugo.md)
- Book: [Les Miserables](https://www.leafyquotes.com/victor-hugo/les-miserables.md)
- Original (fr): Les esprits irréfléchis et rapides disent:—À quoi bon ces figures immobiles du côté du mystère? À quoi servent-elles ? qu’est-ce qu’elles font?Hélas ! en présence de l’obscurité qui nous environne et qui nous attend, ne sachant pas ce que la dispersion immense fera de nous, nous répondons: Il n’y a pas d’œuvre plus sublime peut-être que celle que font ces âmes. Et nous ajoutons: Il n’y a peut-être pas de travail plus utile.
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Les_Mis%C3%A9rables#Chapter_VIII_-_Faith_-_Law) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/victor-hugo/les-miserables/unreflecting-headlong-minds

## 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)