--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is a terrible thing to interrogate the…" description: "\"“It is a terrible thing to interrogate the shadow. Who knows what its reply will be?”\" — Victor Hugo" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ff/victor-hugo-32_shadow_it-is-a-terrible-thing-to-interrogate-th_2334415.jpg" --- # It is a terrible thing to interrogate the shadow. Who… ![“It is a terrible thing to interrogate the shadow. Who knows what its reply will be?” quote by Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ff/victor-hugo-32_shadow_it-is-a-terrible-thing-to-interrogate-th_2334415.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ff/victor-hugo-32_shadow_it-is-a-terrible-thing-to-interrogate-th_2334415.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ff/victor-hugo-32_shadow_it-is-a-terrible-thing-to-interrogate-th_2334415.jpg) > ““It is a terrible thing to interrogate the shadow. Who knows what its reply will be?”” [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. Interrogating the unknown can be dangerous; its answers may be unsettling. **In simple terms:** Questioning the unknown may bring scary answers. Key Takeaway Approach the unknown cautiously. Themes fear unknown exploration Mood reflective cautious Type philosophical advice When to use this quote - research - personal introspection - spiritual seeking - conflict resolution Key Concepts psychology of curiosity risk assessment existential inquiry Questions to Reflect On - What fears arise when confronting the unknown? - How to prepare for unsettling truths? A Different Perspective Answers may cause distress. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Interrogate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interrogate-2145632/) [Interrogate Shadow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interrogate-shadow-5627175/) [Shadow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shadow/) [Shadow Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shadow-knows-222981/) [Thing Interrogate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thing-interrogate-5627176/) ## Related quotes > [Life is like a walking shadow only those who knows the sound of the trigger knows where it is coming from!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-brown/life-is-like-a-walking-shadow-only-those-who-knows-the-sound-of-the/) [D Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-brown/) > [“Hearing may make shorter intuitive leaps than sight, but it too is subject to illusions. The most pleasant of these are 'mondegreens,' named by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-kaplan/hearing-may-make-shorter-intuitive-leaps-than-sight-but-it-too-is/) [Michael Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-kaplan/) > [“We interrogate the world by making.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-burnett/we-interrogate-the-world-by-making/) [Bill Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-burnett/) > [In a sense I am able to interrogate myself, address myself from that slight distance and enter a kind of dialogical relationship with myself.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/in-a-sense-i-am-able-to-interrogate-myself-address-myself-from-that/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [I would never interrogate a child or a spouse the way I would a litigant. People wouldn't want to be around you. You'd wind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judy-sheindlin/i-would-never-interrogate-a-child-or-a-spouse-the-way-i-would-a/) [Judy Sheindlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judy-sheindlin/) > [“I’m bored of this. I want to hear about you. Favorite color. Go.” I laugh. “Green.” “I’m green!” “Fuck yeah you are.” “Why are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-moskowitz/i-m-bored-of-this-i-want-to-hear-about-you-favorite-color-go-i-laugh/) [Hannah Moskowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-moskowitz/) > [“It's a piece of cake, being a lawyer or a doctor or a computer systems analyst or an accountant. 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Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-k-smith/) > [Interrogate yours hidden assumptions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/interrogate-yours-hidden-assumptions/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [It is grievous for a man to leave behind him a shadow in his own shape.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/it-is-grievous-for-a-man-to-leave-behind-him-a-shadow-in-his-own-shape/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [The eye of a man should be still more reverent before the rising of a young maiden than before the rising of a star.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/the-eye-of-a-man-should-be-still-more-reverent-before-the-rising-of-a/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [In this way, his unhappy soul struggled with its anguish. Eighteen hundred years before this unfortunate man, the mysterious Being, in whom all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/in-this-way-his-unhappy-soul-struggled-with-its-anguish-eighteen/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) ## 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 Shadow quotes > [Clear moments are so short. There is much more darkness. More ocean than terra firma. More shadow than form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-zagajewski/clear-moments-are-so-short-there-is-much-more-darkness-more-ocean/) [Adam Zagajewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-zagajewski/) > [Everything comes home, my mother used to say; every word spoken, every shadow cast, every footprint in the sand. It can't be helped; it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanne-harris/everything-comes-home-my-mother-used-to-say-every-word-spoken-every/) [Joanne Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanne-harris/) > [Home is behind, the world ahead, And there are many paths to tread Through shadows to the edge of night, Until the stars are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/home-is-behind-the-world-ahead-and-there-are-many-paths-to-tread/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There is no budget for travel for a Shadow Foreign Secretary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hague/there-is-no-budget-for-travel-for-a-shadow-foreign-secretary/) [William Hague](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hague/) > [I have tried to resign myself, and to console myself; and that, I hope, I may have done imperfectly; but what I cannot firmly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-have-tried-to-resign-myself-and-to-console-myself-and-that-i-hope-i/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“Shadow crawled across the floor to the yellow foam-rubber pad and climbed onto it, pulling the thin blanket over himself, and closed his eyes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/shadow-crawled-across-the-floor-to-the-yellow-foam-rubber-pad-and/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [Holy shadows of the dead, I'm not to blame for your cruel and bitter fate, but the accursed rivalry which brought sister nations and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-the-great/holy-shadows-of-the-dead-i-m-not-to-blame-for-your-cruel-and-bitter/) [Alexander the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-the-great/) > [Even in the darkness, his smile threw shadows.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-howey/even-in-the-darkness-his-smile-threw-shadows/) [Hugh Howey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-howey/) > [Even in the dark your shadow is like a guide to me! you are my rising sun that brings forth hope just as it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nkemjika-linus/even-in-the-dark-your-shadow-is-like-a-guide-to-me-you-are-my-rising/) [Nkemjika Linus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nkemjika-linus/) > [I am alive. Up here with the song of the engine and the air whispering on my face as the sunlight and shadows play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-coonts/i-am-alive-up-here-with-the-song-of-the-engine-and-the-air-whispering/) [Stephen Coonts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-coonts/) > [The most dangerous creature here would have to be me. So maybe I'm just scared of my own shadow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/the-most-dangerous-creature-here-would-have-to-be-me-so-maybe-i-m/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [I definitely want to be with somebody who doesn't feel lost or in my shadow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-bernhard/i-definitely-want-to-be-with-somebody-who-doesn-t-feel-lost-or-in-my/) [Sandra Bernhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-bernhard/) > [Accepting the reality of our sinfulness means accepting our authentic self. Judas could not face his shadow; Peter could. The latter befriended the impostor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brennan-manning/accepting-the-reality-of-our-sinfulness-means-accepting-our-authentic/) [Brennan Manning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brennan-manning/) > [Mankind is a dream of a shadow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pindar/mankind-is-a-dream-of-a-shadow/) [Pindar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pindar/) > [When I became successful, I put up a caution. I didn't think it was fair to have the shadow of that kind of success…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-redford/when-i-became-successful-i-put-up-a-caution-i-didn-t-think-it-was/) [Robert Redford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-redford/) [Browse all 3,665 Shadow quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shadow/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It is a terrible thing to interrogate the shadow. 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