Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is… — Victor Hugo · Smartyfair

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Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is… — Victor Hugo · Smartyfair

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

Victor Hugo1802–1885 · writer · 1800s FranceVictor Hugo was a French novelist and poet who wrote two of the most beloved novels in history, Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.5 quotes

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In plain words

Music says the things words cannot reach.

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music
expresses
cannot
said
impossible
silent

Where these words come from

How sure this is: 88% sureThese words were traced back to where they first appeared. That source is listed below.
What turned up: William Shakespeare (1864), Hugo's own essay voice (nonfiction, not a novel character). French: "Ce qu'on ne peut dire et ce qu'on ne peut taire, la musique l'exprime." Trans. A. Baillot (Gutenberg #53490).
Work: William Shakespeare
Occasion: 1864
Sources checked: en.wikiquote.orgChecked using claude-sonnet-5, 21 August 2026Sourced section, raw wikitext — French original + English + citation
gutenberg.org

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Change your opinions, keep to your principles; change your leaves, keep intact your roots.

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Checked using claude-sonnet-5, 21 August 2026

bibliographic record naming translator A. Baillot

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Whatever causes night in our souls may leave stars.

Victor Hugo

It is man's consolation that the future is to be a sunrise instead of a sunset.

Philosophy is the microscope of the thought.

Music must never offend the ear, even in most horrendous situations, but must always be pleasing.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Melody and harmony should be simply tools in the hands of the artist, with which he creates music.

Music is the universal language of mankind.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Where words fail, sounds can often speak.

Hans Christian Andersen

Rhythm and harmony find their way into the inward places of the soul.