Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.

Ce qu’on ne peut dire et ce qu’on ne peut taire, la musique l’exprime.

Victor Hugo

More information about this quote

Topic

Limits of language

Author

Victor Hugo

Source

William Shakespeare

Language

French

Time

1864 1860s 19th century

Occupation

Novelist Poet Writer

From

France Europe

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Hugo, Victor. William Shakespeare. Paris: Lacroix & Verboeckhoven & Cie, 1864, pt. 1, bk. 2, ch. 4.

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A quote by Victor Hugo about limits of language: “Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible…”
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Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote from the 1860s

We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battle-field and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.

Abraham Lincoln

First Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln

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More information about this quote
Topic
Political division American Civil War American politics
Speaker
Abraham Lincoln
Source
First Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln Presidential inaugural address
Medium
Speech
Genre
Political speech
Language
English
Time
1861 1860s 19th century
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "First Inaugural Address." 4 Mar. 1861, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

Current Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "First Inaugral Address, March 4, 1861." Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 1859-1865, edited by Don E. Fehrenbacher. Library of America, 2018.

Another quote from 1864

Taste...Is the only morality...Tell me what you like, and I'll tell you what you are.

John Ruskin

More information about this quote
Topic
Taste
Speaker
John Ruskin
Medium
Lecture
Language
English
Time
1864 1860s 19th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Ruskin, John. "Traffic." c. 1864, Town Hall, Bradford, England, UK. Lecture.

Current Citation

Ruskin, John. Traffic. Penguin UK, 2015.

Another quote originally in French

We shouldn't maltreat our idols: the gilt comes off on our hands.

Gustave Flaubert

Madame Bovary

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Read Madame Bovary at Project Gutenberg
More information about this quote
Topic
Idols

Author

Gustave Flaubert
Source
Madame Bovary
Medium
Novel
Language
French
Time
1857 1850s 19th century
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Flaubert, Gustave. Madame Bovary: Moeurs de Province [Madame Bovary: Provincial Manners]. Revue de Paris, 1 Oct. 1856 - 15 Dec. 1856. Serial.

Current Citation

Flaubert, Gustave. Madame Bovary, edited and translated by Lydia Davis. Penguin Classics, 2011, pt. 3, ch. 6.