--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As we have said, robust souls are…" description: "\"As we have said, robust souls are sometimes almost, but not entirely, overthrown by strokes of misfortune…Despair has steps leading upward. From total ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85d/victor-hugo-32_affliction_as-we-have-said-robust-souls-are-sometim_3183088.jpg" --- # As we have said, robust souls are sometimes almost, but… ![“As we have said, robust souls are sometimes almost, but not entirely, overthrown by strokes of misfortune…Despair has steps leading upward. From total depression we rise to despondency, from despondency to affliction, from affliction to melancholy. Melancholy is a twilight state in which suffering…” quote by Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85d/victor-hugo-32_affliction_as-we-have-said-robust-souls-are-sometim_3183088.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85d/victor-hugo-32_affliction_as-we-have-said-robust-souls-are-sometim_3183088.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85d/victor-hugo-32_affliction_as-we-have-said-robust-souls-are-sometim_3183088.jpg) > “As we have said, robust souls are sometimes almost, but not entirely, overthrown by strokes of misfortune…Despair has steps leading upward. From total depression we rise to despondency, from despondency to affliction, from affliction to melancholy. Melancholy is a twilight state in which suffering transmutes into a somber joy…Melancholy is the enjoyment of being sad.” [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Adversity can transform sorrow into a nuanced, bittersweet appreciation of life’s depth. **In simple terms:** Suffering can become a strange joy. Key Takeaway Find meaning in hardship. Themes resilience melancholy transformation hope Mood somber hopeful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - grief counseling - creative writing - therapy - spiritual practice Key Concepts existentialism psychology emotional alchemy Questions to Reflect On - How does pain shape your perspective? - Can sorrow inspire creativity? A Different Perspective Melancholy may trap one in stagnation if not consciously redirected. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Affliction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affliction/) [Being sad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being-sad/) [Despair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despair/) [Despondency](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despondency/) [Enjoyment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enjoyment/) [Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joy/) [Melancholy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/melancholy/) [Misfortunes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/misfortunes/) [Somber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/somber/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) [Twilight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/twilight/) ## Related quotes > [I am exquisite Love, her Grotesque absence. I am Passion, trembling; never touched. I am Romance, her sadness. I am joy, her Melancholy. Aspiration,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-nickel/i-am-exquisite-love-her-grotesque-absence-i-am-passion-trembling/) [Eric Nickel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-nickel/) > [Our sadness won’t be of the searing kind but more like a blend of joy and melancholy: joy at the perfection we see before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/our-sadness-won-t-be-of-the-searing-kind-but-more-like-a-blend-of-joy/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Somehow this wasn't the same as melancholy. It was something else, about how melancholy and nostalgia weren't relevant in the slightest. Things just happened.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/somehow-this-wasn-t-the-same-as-melancholy-it-was-something-else/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [“Fear and excitement are chemically the same. Sadness is a hair away from melancholy. Melancholy is almost pleasure, brushing against happiness. It’s all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-hanrahan/fear-and-excitement-are-chemically-the-same-sadness-is-a-hair-away/) Catherine Hanrahan > [I was not always free from melancholy; but even melancholy had its charms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madame-roland/i-was-not-always-free-from-melancholy-but-even-melancholy-had-its/) [Madame Roland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madame-roland/) > [Sinatra's melancholy was the melancholy of mass (old) media technology - the 'extimacy' of the records facilitated by the phonograph and the microphone, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-fisher/sinatra-s-melancholy-was-the-melancholy-of-mass-old-media-technology/) [Mark Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-fisher/) > [God in his harmony has equal ends For cedar that resists and reed that bends; For good it is a woman sometimes rules, Holds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/god-in-his-harmony-has-equal-ends-for-cedar-that-resists-and-reed/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Nature at times adds her own commentary to our actions with a kind of somber and considered eloquence, as though she were bidding us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/nature-at-times-adds-her-own-commentary-to-our-actions-with-a-kind-of/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Catastrophes have a somber way of arranging things.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/catastrophes-have-a-somber-way-of-arranging-things/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“When something drops into your life that seems to threaten your future, remember this: the first shockwaves of the bomb are not sin. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-piper/when-something-drops-into-your-life-that-seems-to-threaten-your/) [John Piper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-piper/) > [I ought not to doubt the steadiness of your affection. Yet such is the inconsistency of real love, that it is always awake to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-radcliffe/i-ought-not-to-doubt-the-steadiness-of-your-affection-yet-such-is-the/) [Ann Radcliffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-radcliffe/) > [One receives as reward for much ennui, despondency, boredom -such as a solitude without friends, books, duties, passions must bring with it -those quarter-hours…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/one-receives-as-reward-for-much-ennui-despondency-boredom-such-as-a/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Men ought to know that from nothing else but the brain come joys, delights, laughter and sports, and sorrows, griefs, despondency, and lamentations. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hippocrates/men-ought-to-know-that-from-nothing-else-but-the-brain-come-joys/) [Hippocrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hippocrates/) > [Spirit of BEAUTY, that dost consecrate With thine own hues all thou dost shine upon Of human thought or form, where art thou gone?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/spirit-of-beauty-that-dost-consecrate-with-thine-own-hues-all-thou/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [I elbowed my way into the grubby café, bought a pie that tasted of shoe polish and a pot of tea with cork crumbs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/i-elbowed-my-way-into-the-grubby-caf-bought-a-pie-that-tasted-of-shoe/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) ## More by Victor Hugo > [Houses are like the human beings that inhabit them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/houses-are-like-the-human-beings-that-inhabit-them/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“There is still a certain grace in a dead festival. It has been happy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/there-is-still-a-certain-grace-in-a-dead-festival-it-has-been-happy/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [He caught her, she fell, he caught her in his arms, he held her tightly unconscious of what he was doing. He held her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/he-caught-her-she-fell-he-caught-her-in-his-arms-he-held-her-tightly/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“First I loved women, then animals, and now I love stones. They're just as amusing as women and animals and they're much less trecherous.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/first-i-loved-women-then-animals-and-now-i-love-stones-they-re-just/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Nature is pitiless; she never withdraws her flowers, her music, her fragrance, and her sunlight from before human cruelty or suffering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/nature-is-pitiless-she-never-withdraws-her-flowers-her-music-her/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Have courage for the great sorrows of life, and patience for the small ones. And when you have finished your daily task, go to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/have-courage-for-the-great-sorrows-of-life-and-patience-for-the-small/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [The peasants of the Asturias believe that in every litter of wolves there is one pup that is killed by the mother for fear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/the-peasants-of-the-asturias-believe-that-in-every-litter-of-wolves/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Great blunders are often made, like large ropes, of a multitude of fibres.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/great-blunders-are-often-made-like-large-ropes-of-a-multitude-of/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“For love is like a tree; it grows of itself; it send its roots deep into our being, and often continues to grow green…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/for-love-is-like-a-tree-it-grows-of-itself-it-send-its-roots-deep/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Blacheville smiles with the self-satisfied smugness of a man whose vanity is tickled”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/blacheville-smiles-with-the-self-satisfied-smugness-of-a-man-whose/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Loving in ignorance, she loved with all the more passion. She did not know whether it was good or evil, beneficent or dangerous, necessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/loving-in-ignorance-she-loved-with-all-the-more-passion-she-did-not/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/laughter-is-the-sun-that-drives-winter-from-the-human-face/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Our joys have shadows. The perfect smile belongs to God alone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/our-joys-have-shadows-the-perfect-smile-belongs-to-god-alone/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“When those we love are in question, our prudence invents every sort of madness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/when-those-we-love-are-in-question-our-prudence-invents-every-sort-of/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Love is a fault; so be it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/love-is-a-fault-so-be-it/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) [Explore all 2,181 Victor Hugo quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) ## More Affliction quotes > [I don't feel insecure about any of this work anymore. Maybe I don't have what I had when I was younger. I'm not really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-norton/i-don-t-feel-insecure-about-any-of-this-work-anymore-maybe-i-don-t/) [Edward Norton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-norton/) > [Every man will have his own criterion in forming his judgment of others. I depend very much on the effect of affliction. I consider…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-cecil/every-man-will-have-his-own-criterion-in-forming-his-judgment-of/) [Richard Cecil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-cecil/) > [WHANGDEPOOTENAWAH, n. In the Ojibwa tongue, disaster; an unexpected affliction that strikes hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/whangdepootenawah-n-in-the-ojibwa-tongue-disaster-an-unexpected/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [There is nothing in afflictions which ought to disturb our joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calvin/there-is-nothing-in-afflictions-which-ought-to-disturb-our-joy/) [John Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calvin/) > [Come, then, affliction, if my Father wills, and be my frowning friend. A friend that frowns is better than a smiling enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-macdonald/come-then-affliction-if-my-father-wills-and-be-my-frowning-friend-a/) [George MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-macdonald/) > [Henceforth, I'll bear Affliction till it do cry out itself, 'Enough, enough, and die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/henceforth-i-ll-bear-affliction-till-it-do-cry-out-itself-enough/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [New materials are one of the great afflictions of contemporary art. Some artists confuse new materials with new ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/new-materials-are-one-of-the-great-afflictions-of-contemporary-art/) [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) > [Aimee Parkison offers a distinct new voice to contemporary fiction. Her seductive stories explore childhood as a realm of sorrows, and reveal the afflictions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-anshaw/aimee-parkison-offers-a-distinct-new-voice-to-contemporary-fiction/) [Carol Anshaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-anshaw/) > [May I strike my heart's keys clearly, and may none fail because of slack, uncertain, or fraying strings. May the tears that stream down…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/may-i-strike-my-heart-s-keys-clearly-and-may-none-fail-because-of/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [We are infinitely more than our limitations and afflictions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-r-holland/we-are-infinitely-more-than-our-limitations-and-afflictions/) [Jeffrey R. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-r-holland/) > [God measures out affliction to our need.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-john-chrysostom/god-measures-out-affliction-to-our-need/) [Saint John Chrysostom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-john-chrysostom/) > [Afflictions make the heart more deep, more experimental, more knowing and profound, and so, more able to hold, to contain, and beat more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bunyan/afflictions-make-the-heart-more-deep-more-experimental-more-knowing/) [John Bunyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bunyan/) > [Religion prescribes to every miserable man the means of bettering his condition; nay, it shows him that the bearing of his afflictions as he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/religion-prescribes-to-every-miserable-man-the-means-of-bettering-his/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Short-term amnesia is not the worst affliction if you have an Irish flair for the sauce.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/short-term-amnesia-is-not-the-worst-affliction-if-you-have-an-irish/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [Revolution will free society of its afflictions, while science will free the individual of his.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/revolution-will-free-society-of-its-afflictions-while-science-will/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) [Browse all 598 Affliction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affliction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "As we have said, robust souls are sometimes almost, but not entirely, overthrown by strokes of misfortune…Despair has steps leading upward. From total depression we rise to despondency, from despondency to affliction, from affliction to melancholy. Melancholy is a twilight state in which suffering transmutes into a somber joy…Melancholy is the enjoyment of being sad.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Victor Hugo" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/as-we-have-said-robust-souls-are-sometimes-almost-but-not-entirely/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Affliction" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/as-we-have-said-robust-souls-are-sometimes-almost-but-not-entirely/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85d/victor-hugo-32_affliction_as-we-have-said-robust-souls-are-sometim_3183088.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85d/victor-hugo-32_affliction_as-we-have-said-robust-souls-are-sometim_3183088.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85d/victor-hugo-32_affliction_as-we-have-said-robust-souls-are-sometim_3183088.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“As we have said, robust souls are sometimes almost, but not entirely, overthrown by strokes of…” — Victor Hugo", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Victor Hugo", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "As we have said, robust souls...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/as-we-have-said-robust-souls-are-sometimes-almost-but-not-entirely/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/as-we-have-said-robust-souls-are-sometimes-almost-but-not-entirely/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```