--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Each time he uttered the word ‘Monsieur’…" description: "\"“Each time he uttered the word ‘Monsieur’ in his mild, compassionable voice, the man’s face lighted up. The courtesy, to the ex-convict, was like fresh..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ea/victor-hugo-32_fresh-water_each-time-he-uttered-the-word-monsieur-i_2339828.jpg" --- # Each time he uttered the word ‘Monsieur’ in his mild… ![“Each time he uttered the word ‘Monsieur’ in his mild, compassionable voice, the man’s face lighted up. The courtesy, to the ex-convict, was like fresh water to a shipwrecked man. Ignominy thirsts for respect.” quote by Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ea/victor-hugo-32_fresh-water_each-time-he-uttered-the-word-monsieur-i_2339828.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ea/victor-hugo-32_fresh-water_each-time-he-uttered-the-word-monsieur-i_2339828.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ea/victor-hugo-32_fresh-water_each-time-he-uttered-the-word-monsieur-i_2339828.jpg) > ““Each time he uttered the word ‘Monsieur’ in his mild, compassionable voice, the man’s face lighted up. The courtesy, to the ex-convict, was like fresh water to a shipwrecked man. Ignominy thirsts for respect.”” [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. Politeness and respect revive dignity, especially for those shunned by society. **In simple terms:** Respect restores dignity. Key Takeaway Offer genuine courtesy. Themes respect dignity compassion Mood empathetic hopeful Type ethical inspirational When to use this quote - interactions with marginalized people - customer service - team leadership Key Concepts social hierarchy human dignity Questions to Reflect On - How can we consistently show respect to those society judges? - What barriers prevent compassion from being universal? A Different Perspective Respect alone may not erase past stigma. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fresh water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fresh-water/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“Ignominy thirsts for respect.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/ignominy-thirsts-for-respect/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Monsieur' to a convict is a glass of water to a man dying of thirst at sea; ignominy thirsts for respect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/monsieur-to-a-convict-is-a-glass-of-water-to-a-man-dying-of-thirst-at/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [And do you know Monsieur Marius? I believe I was a little in love with you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/and-do-you-know-monsieur-marius-i-believe-i-was-a-little-in-love-with/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Monsieur Bienvenu was simply a man who accepted these mysterious questions...and who had in his soul a deep respect for the mystery which enveloped…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/monsieur-bienvenu-was-simply-a-man-who-accepted-these-mysterious/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Each time that he uttered the word sir, in his voice which was so gently grave and polished, the man's face lighted up. Monsieur…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/each-time-that-he-uttered-the-word-sir-in-his-voice-which-was-so/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“That's all for today, Monsieur Antichrist.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/that-s-all-for-today-monsieur-antichrist/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [“Galilah sebuah tulisan yang indah, Monsieur Boustouler, dan anda akan menemukan berbagai aksi tidak terhormat”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/galilah-sebuah-tulisan-yang-indah-monsieur-boustouler-dan-anda-akan/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [“Monsieur, you must be mad! Box Five can never be had For money, love or the world ...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-a-bucchianeri/monsieur-you-must-be-mad-box-five-can-never-be-had-for-money-love-or/) [E.A. Bucchianeri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-a-bucchianeri/) > [May heaven protect us, cher monsieur, from being set on a pedestal by our friends!!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/may-heaven-protect-us-cher-monsieur-from-being-set-on-a-pedestal-by/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [“book at hand, which happened to be Monsieur”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amor-towles/book-at-hand-which-happened-to-be-monsieur/) [Amor Towles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amor-towles/) > [“Je pense, lui dis-je, que nous voilà, tous tant que nous sommes, à manger et à boire pour conserver notre précieuse existence et qu’il…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/je-pense-lui-dis-je-que-nous-voil-tous-tant-que-nous-sommes-manger-et/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [“Say'st thou me so? is that a ton of moys? Come hither, boy: ask me this slave in French What is his name. Boy-…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/say-st-thou-me-so-is-that-a-ton-of-moys-come-hither-boy-ask-me-this/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“This is a plot: I hope he will keep quiet while he looks at them. I dive under the table and push the chest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/this-is-a-plot-i-hope-he-will-keep-quiet-while-he-looks-at-them-i/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [“The footman burst in, announcing, 'Monsieur le Duc de ---.' 'Hold your tongue, you fool,' said the Duke as he entered the room. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/the-footman-burst-in-announcing-monsieur-le-duc-de-hold-your-tongue/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [ \[T\]he appropriate form of address between man and man ought to be, not monsieur, sir, but fellow sufferer, compagnon de miseres. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/t-he-appropriate-form-of-address-between-man-and-man-ought-to-be-not/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) ## 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 Fresh water quotes > [“It's like asking me to describe fresh water. I need it to live. I need her to live”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calia-read/it-s-like-asking-me-to-describe-fresh-water-i-need-it-to-live-i-need/) [Calia Read](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calia-read/) > [At my death paint my body with red paint and plunge it into fresh water to be restored back to life, otherwise my bones…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/crazy-horse/at-my-death-paint-my-body-with-red-paint-and-plunge-it-into-fresh/) [Crazy Horse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/crazy-horse/) > [“Our pals over at Wikipedia make hair sounds like the sun of fresh water, saying in their snooty tone that head hair has "gained…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-pasricha/our-pals-over-at-wikipedia-make-hair-sounds-like-the-sun-of-fresh/) [Neil Pasricha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-pasricha/) > [The shortage of fresh water is the major ecological problem of this moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-gorbachev/the-shortage-of-fresh-water-is-the-major-ecological-problem-of-this/) [Mikhail Gorbachev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-gorbachev/) > [There is no domestic issue more important to America in the long run than the conservation and proper use of our natural resources, including…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaylord-nelson/there-is-no-domestic-issue-more-important-to-america-in-the-long-run/) [Gaylord Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaylord-nelson/) > [“The alchemist picked up a book that someone in the caravan had brought. Leafing through the pages, he found a story about Narcissus. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/the-alchemist-picked-up-a-book-that-someone-in-the-caravan-had/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [ “4. Man is neither Good-natured nor Bad-natured according to Su Shih (So-shoku).\[FN#164\] The difficulty may be avoided by a theory given by Su Shih… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kaiten-nukariya/4-man-is-neither-good-natured-nor-bad-natured-according-to-su-shih-so/) [Kaiten Nukariya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kaiten-nukariya/) > [You will have five hundred million little bells, and I shall have five hundred million springs of fresh water...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/you-will-have-five-hundred-million-little-bells-and-i-shall-have-five/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [“A brick could be used as a floating object that dispensed fresh water, if only it were lighter and shaped like a cloud. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/a-brick-could-be-used-as-a-floating-object-that-dispensed-fresh-water/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [“Accras (Saltfish Fritters) Accras (or acrats) de morue are saltfish fritters—the French island version of Dingis’s saltfish cakes. (Morue is French for cod.) Serve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-vanderhoof/accras-saltfish-fritters-accras-or-acrats-de-morue-are-saltfish/) [Ann Vanderhoof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-vanderhoof/) > [“Do you not wish that the poor little children who live in dirty courts and play in the gutters had some of the care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-henry-landseer/do-you-not-wish-that-the-poor-little-children-who-live-in-dirty/) Edwin Henry Landseer > [“Crutzen wrote up his idea in a short essay, “Geology of Mankind,” that ran in Nature. “It seems appropriate to assign the term ‘Anthropocene’…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/crutzen-wrote-up-his-idea-in-a-short-essay-geology-of-mankind-that/) [Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/) > [“Tada references the accusation in Jeremiah that the people have forsaken God as Living Water by remembering a hiking trip from her younger days.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joni-eareckson-tada/tada-references-the-accusation-in-jeremiah-that-the-people-have/) [Joni Eareckson Tada](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joni-eareckson-tada/) > [I have a nice boat that I got a couple of years ago that's a Skeeter brand that's 20-foot, center-console. I have it set…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-turner/i-have-a-nice-boat-that-i-got-a-couple-of-years-ago-that-s-a-skeeter/) [Josh Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-turner/) > [“Despina can be reached in two ways: by ship or by camel. The city displays one face to the traveler arriving overland and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/despina-can-be-reached-in-two-ways-by-ship-or-by-camel-the-city/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) [Browse all 128 Fresh water quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fresh-water/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Each time he uttered the word ‘Monsieur’ in his mild, compassionable voice, the man’s face lighted up. The courtesy, to the ex-convict, was like fresh water to a shipwrecked man. Ignominy thirsts for respect.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Victor Hugo" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/each-time-he-uttered-the-word-monsieur-in-his-mild-compassionable/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Fresh water" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/each-time-he-uttered-the-word-monsieur-in-his-mild-compassionable/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ea/victor-hugo-32_fresh-water_each-time-he-uttered-the-word-monsieur-i_2339828.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ea/victor-hugo-32_fresh-water_each-time-he-uttered-the-word-monsieur-i_2339828.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ea/victor-hugo-32_fresh-water_each-time-he-uttered-the-word-monsieur-i_2339828.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Each time he uttered the word ‘Monsieur’ in his mild, compassionable voice, the man’s face lighted up. The…” — 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": "“Each time he uttered the word...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/each-time-he-uttered-the-word-monsieur-in-his-mild-compassionable/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/each-time-he-uttered-the-word-monsieur-in-his-mild-compassionable/#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 } } ] } ```