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.

Illustrated Quote

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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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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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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Read this speech at UVA's Miller Center website
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

Man is everywhere a disturbing agent. Wherever he plants his foot, the harmonies of nature are turned to discords.

George Perkins Marsh

Man and Nature

More information about this quote
Topic
Man and nature Environmental destruction

Author

George Perkins Marsh
Source
Man and Nature
Language
English
Time
1864 1860s 19th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Marsh, George Perkins. Man and Nature: Or, Physical Geography as Modified by Human Action. New York: Charles Scribner, 1864, ch. 1.

Current Citation

Marsh, George Perkins. Man and Nature: Or, Physical Geography as Modified by Human Action. Dover Publications, 2021, ch. 1.

Another quote originally in French

There are no small steps in great affairs.

Jean-Francois Paul de Gondi, Cardinal de Retz

More information about this quote
Topic
Going for it Taking risks

Author

Jean-Francois Paul de Gondi, Cardinal de Retz
Genre
Autobiography and memoir
Language
French
Time
1717 1710s 18th century
Authentication Score 3
Citation

Gondi Paul De, Jean-Francois. Memoires du Cardinal de Retz [The Memoirs of the cardinal de Retz]. c. 1717, bk. 2.