“In moments like these, offering up his heart at the hour that night flowers offer up their perfume, lit up like a lamp in the middle of the starry night, full of ecstasy in the middle of the universal radiance of creation, he could not perhaps have said himself what was happening in his spirit; he felt something soar up out of him and something fly down into him. Mysterious exchanges between the bottomless well of the soul and the bottomless well of the universe!”

French Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician

Victor Hugo was a French Romantic writer, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist, and politician. He is known as one of the leading figures of French Romanticism. His work spans several literary forms, and his public life also included political engagement and advocacy for human rights. His writing helped define the Romantic movement in France, and his reputation rests on both his literary range and his influence in public debate.