To write the poem of the human conscience, were it only of a single man, were it only of the most infamous of men, would be to swallow up all epics in a superior and final epic. The conscience is the chaos of chimeras, of lusts and of temptations, the furnace of dreams, the cave of the ideas which are our shame; it is the pandemonium of sophisms, the battlefield of the passions. At certain hours, penetrate within the livid face of a human being who reflects, and look at what lies behind; look into that soul, look into that obscurity. There, beneath the external silence, there are combats of giants as in Homer, mêlées of dragons and hydras, and clouds of phantoms as in Milton, ghostly labyrinths as in Dante. What a gloom enwraps that infinite which each man bears within himself, and by which he measures in despair the desires of his will, and the actions of his life! . Victor Hugo
About This Quote

This quote is referring to the darkness inside of someone. It is saying that it is so hard to understand the darkness inside of someone, and they are not aware of it. Therefore they will not be able to figure out what they should do. They think that it is their own fault and that no one else has this problem. Their conscience makes them feel guilty and uncomfortable; we will never understand what people go through everyday if we cannot relate to them on their level.

Source: Les MisaRables

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