“Those who are ignorant should be taught all you can teach them; society is to blame for not providing free public education; and society will answer for the obscurity it produces. If the soul is left in darkness, sin will be committed. The guilty party is not he who has sinned but he who created the darkness in the first place.”

French novelist and playwright of the Romantic era, Victor Hugo is best known for his sweeping historical novels and passionate advocacy for social justice. His works like *Les Misérables* and *The Hunchback of Notre-Dame* explore human suffering and resilience, while his political essays championed abolition and democratic reform.