"If you look in the eyes of..." - Quote by Victor Hugo
If you look in the eyes of the young, you see flame. If you look in the eyes of the old, you see light.
More by Victor Hugo
“Beauty is as useful as the useful. More so, perhaps. (Le beau est aussi utile que l'utile. Plus peut-etre.)”
“That men saw his mask, but the bishop saw his face. That men saw his life, but the bishop saw his conscience.”
“He left her. She was dissatisfied with him. He had preferred to incur her anger rather than cause her pain. He had kept all the pain for himself.”
More on Youth
“It's difficult enough for a young person to put his soul on the line in front of a lot of drunken people without having that hanging over his head, too.”
“At the age of 19, you always think you are prepared for everything and you think you have the knowledge of what?s coming ahead.”
“For my own part, I had rather be old only a short time than be old before I really am so.”
More on Age
“The trouble with the younger generation is that they don't stay young for very long.”
“Bashfulness is an ornament to youth, but a reproach to old age.”
“Life was a fairy-tale, then, it is a tragedy now. When I was 43 and John Hay 41 he said life was a tragedy after 40, and I disputed it. Three years ago he asked me to testify again: I counted my graves, and there was nothing for me to say. I am old; I recognize it but I don't realize it. I wonder if a person ever really ceases to feel young - I mean, for a whole day at a time.”