--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Let us have compassion for those under…" description: "\"Let us have compassion for those under chastisement. Alas, who are we ourselves? Who am I and who are you? Whence do we come and is it quite certain th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/655/victor-hugo-32_alas_let-us-have-compassion-for-those-under-c_2874893.jpg" --- # Let us have compassion for those under chastisement. Alas… ![“Let us have compassion for those under chastisement. Alas, who are we ourselves? Who am I and who are you? Whence do we come and is it quite certain that we did nothing before we were born? This earth is not without some resemblance to a gaol. Who knows but that man is a victim of divine justice?…” quote by Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/655/victor-hugo-32_alas_let-us-have-compassion-for-those-under-c_2874893.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/655/victor-hugo-32_alas_let-us-have-compassion-for-those-under-c_2874893.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/655/victor-hugo-32_alas_let-us-have-compassion-for-those-under-c_2874893.jpg) > “Let us have compassion for those under chastisement. Alas, who are we ourselves? Who am I and who are you? Whence do we come and is it quite certain that we did nothing before we were born? This earth is not without some resemblance to a gaol. Who knows but that man is a victim of divine justice? Look closely at life. It is so constituted that one senses punishment everywhere.” [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. Human existence is a prison of suffering, yet compassion offers redemption. **In simple terms:** Life feels like a jail, compassion helps. Key Takeaway Cultivate compassion. Themes suffering compassion existence Mood somber thoughtful Type philosophical poetic When to use this quote - personal crises - social justice Key Concepts philosophy spirituality Questions to Reflect On - How can compassion be acted upon? - What limits compassion? A Different Perspective Compassion alone may not solve systemic pain. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Chastisement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chastisement/) [Compassion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compassion/) [Crime and punishment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crime-and-punishment/) [Divine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/divine/) [Divine justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/divine-justice/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justice/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Punishment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/punishment/) [Victim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/victim/) ## Related quotes > [“Let us have compassion on the chastised. Alas! Who are we ourselves? Who am I who now address you? Who are you who are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/let-us-have-compassion-on-the-chastised-alas-who-are-we-ourselves-who/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“All beings seek for happiness; so let your compassion extend itself to all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahavamsa/all-beings-seek-for-happiness-so-let-your-compassion-extend-itself-to/) Mahavamsa > [In a situation of potential conflict, let compassion guide you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-salzberg/in-a-situation-of-potential-conflict-let-compassion-guide-you/) [Sharon Salzberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-salzberg/) > [So let Compassion begin within. You dont have to solve all the problems of the world. Just love the world, do it mindfully and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kemmy-nola-http-wwwamoreloveforlifecom/so-let-compassion-begin-within-you-dont-have-to-solve-all-the/) Kemmy Nola Http://wwwamoreloveforlifecom > [Let all find COMPASSION in YOU.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-of-the-cross/let-all-find-compassion-in-you/) [John of the Cross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-of-the-cross/) > [To let go does not mean to get rid of. To let go means to let be. When we let be with compassion, things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kornfield/to-let-go-does-not-mean-to-get-rid-of-to-let-go-means-to-let-be-when/) [Jack Kornfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kornfield/) > [Let us have compassion upon each other, and let the strong tenderly nurse the weak into strength, and let those who can see guide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigham-young/let-us-have-compassion-upon-each-other-and-let-the-strong-tenderly/) [Brigham Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigham-young/) > [“You can never let your compassion stand in the way of justice because when you do, other people get hurt.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-lynn-hope/you-can-never-let-your-compassion-stand-in-the-way-of-justice-because/) [Donna Lynn Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-lynn-hope/) > [“To be granite and to doubt! To be the statue of Chastisement cast in one piece in the mould of the law, and suddenly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/to-be-granite-and-to-doubt-to-be-the-statue-of-chastisement-cast-in/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“The weapons of divine justice are blunted by the confession and sorrow of the offender.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante/the-weapons-of-divine-justice-are-blunted-by-the-confession-and/) [Dante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante/) > [“ever there is doubt as to the advisability of advancing a human identity to the mansion worlds, the universe governments invariably rule in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/urantia-foundation/ever-there-is-doubt-as-to-the-advisability-of-advancing-a-human/) Urantia Foundation > [“I'm not at all sure that it isn't the case that God is not "all love," just that "love" is manifest in various ways…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loran-blood/i-m-not-at-all-sure-that-it-isn-t-the-case-that-god-is-not-all-love/) Loran Blood > [“... how could any young man merely sit back and wait for divine justice to take its course? It was asking the impossible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/how-could-any-young-man-merely-sit-back-and-wait-for-divine-justice/) [Paul Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bowles/) > [“And there it was. The prim face of censure he’d been seeking. A strange sense of satisfaction descended on him. Divine justice, perhaps. Other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tessa-dare/and-there-it-was-the-prim-face-of-censure-he-d-been-seeking-a-strange/) [Tessa Dare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tessa-dare/) > [If God has laid your sins upon the Son of His love, you may rest assured that He will never lay them a second…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavius-winslow/if-god-has-laid-your-sins-upon-the-son-of-his-love-you-may-rest/) [Octavius Winslow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavius-winslow/) ## 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 Alas quotes > [“Muchos de los ángeles de Dios no tienen alas...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-n-harris/muchos-de-los-ngeles-de-dios-no-tienen-alas/) [José N. Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-n-harris/) > [We are all potentially such sick men. The sanest and best of us are of one clay with lunatics and prison-inmates. And whenever we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/we-are-all-potentially-such-sick-men-the-sanest-and-best-of-us-are-of/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [Alas, you don't need monsters for monstrous deeds to be accomplished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/alas-you-don-t-need-monsters-for-monstrous-deeds-to-be-accomplished/) [Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/) > [Time, time - that is our greatest master! Alas, like Ugolino, time devours its own children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hector-berlioz/time-time-that-is-our-greatest-master-alas-like-ugolino-time-devours/) [Hector Berlioz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hector-berlioz/) > [Removing prejudices is, alas! too often removing the boundary of a delightful near prospect in order to let in a shockingly extensive one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-fulke-greville/removing-prejudices-is-alas-too-often-removing-the-boundary-of-a/) [Sir Fulke Greville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-fulke-greville/) > [Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-pharcellus-church/yes-virginia-there-is-a-santa-claus-he-exists-as-certainly-as-love/) [Francis Pharcellus Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-pharcellus-church/) > [Alas, Postumus, the fleeting years slip by, nor will piety give any stay to wrinkles and pressing old age and untamable death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/alas-postumus-the-fleeting-years-slip-by-nor-will-piety-give-any-stay/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Sensible Catholics have for generations been ignoring the views on contraception held by reactionary old men in the Vatican, but alas, since it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-c-grayling/sensible-catholics-have-for-generations-been-ignoring-the-views-on/) [A.C. Grayling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-c-grayling/) > [The flesh is sad, alas, and I have read all the books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-phane-mallarm/the-flesh-is-sad-alas-and-i-have-read-all-the-books/) [Stephane Mallarme](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-phane-mallarm/) > [Alas! all music jars when the soul's out of tune.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/alas-all-music-jars-when-the-soul-s-out-of-tune/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [In spite of the honestest efforts to annihilate my I-ity, or merge it in what the world doubtless considers my better half, I still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-welsh-carlyle/in-spite-of-the-honestest-efforts-to-annihilate-my-i-ity-or-merge-it/) [Jane Welsh Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-welsh-carlyle/) > [The dumpling is indeed of more ancient institution, and of foreign origin; but alas, what were those dumplings? Nothing but a few lentils sodden…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-arbuthnot/the-dumpling-is-indeed-of-more-ancient-institution-and-of-foreign/) [John Arbuthnot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-arbuthnot/) > [“World is so beautiful, but alas! There are so many assholes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-f-moonzajer/world-is-so-beautiful-but-alas-there-are-so-many-assholes/) [M.F. Moonzajer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-f-moonzajer/) > [Ideally a painter (and, generally, an artist) should not become conscious of his insights: without taking the detour through his reflective processes, and incomprehensibly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/ideally-a-painter-and-generally-an-artist-should-not-become-conscious/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [Alas! we makeA ladder of our thoughts, where angels step,But sleep ourselves at the foot: our high resolvesLook down upon our slumbering acts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/letitia-elizabeth-landon/alas-we-makea-ladder-of-our-thoughts-where-angels-step-but-sleep/) [Letitia Elizabeth Landon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/letitia-elizabeth-landon/) Browse all 453 Alas quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Let us have compassion for those under chastisement. Alas, who are we ourselves? 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