A quotation from Victor Hugo
You are right, sir, when you tell me that Les Misérables is written for all nations. I do not know whether it will be read by all, but I wrote it for all. It is addressed to England as well as to Spain, to Italy as well as to France, to Germany as well as to Ireland, to Republics which have slaves as well as to Empires which have serfs. Social problems overstep frontiers. The sores of the human race, those great sores which cover the globe, do not halt at the red or blue lines traced upon the map.
In every place where man is ignorant and despairing, in every place where woman is sold for bread, wherever the child suffers for lack of the book which should instruct him and of the hearth which should warm him, the book of Les MisĂ©rables knocks at the door and says: âOpen to me, I come for you.â
[Vous avez raison, monsieur, quand vous me dites que le livre les MisĂ©rables est Ă©crit pour tous les peuples. Je ne sais sâil sera lu par tous, mais je lâai Ă©crit pour tous. Il sâadresse Ă lâAngleterre autant quâĂ lâEspagne, Ă lâItalie autant quâĂ la France, Ă lâAllemagne autant quâĂ lâIrlande, aux rĂ©publiques qui ont des esclaves aussi bien quâaux empires qui ont des serfs. Les problĂšmes sociaux dĂ©passent les frontiĂšres. Les plaies du genre humain, ces larges plaies qui couvrent le globe, ne sâarrĂȘtent point aux lignes bleues ou rouges tracĂ©es sur la mappemonde.
Partout oĂč lâhomme ignore et dĂ©sespĂšre, partout oĂč la femme se vend pour du pain, partout oĂč lâenfant souffre faute dâun livre qui lâenseigne et dâun foyer qui le rĂ©chauffe, le livre les MisĂ©rables frappe Ă la porte et dit: Ouvrez-moi, je viens pour vous.]
Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
Letter (1862-10-18) to M. Daelli
More about this quote: wist.info/hugo-victor/13238/
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