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nydus/Les MisérablesPublic

An escaped convict steals two candlesticks and uses the proceeds to redeem himself and become an honest man.

Page 1534 of 2242
Table of Contents

Book VII

what should be and what is, that is to say, in proportioning enjoyment to effort and a glut to need; in a word, in evolving from the social apparatus more light and more comfort for the benefit of those who suffer and those who are ignorant.

And, let us say it, all this is but the beginning. The true question is this: labor cannot be a law without being a right.

We will not insist upon this point; this is not the proper place for that.

If nature calls itself Providence, society should call itself foresight.

Intellectual and moral growth is no less indispensable than material improvement. To know is a sacrament, to think is the prime necessity, truth is nourishment as well as grain. A reason which fasts from science and wisdom grows thin. Let us enter equal complaint against stomachs and minds which do not eat. If there is anything more heartbreaking than a body perishing for lack of bread, it is a soul which is dying from hunger for the light.

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