--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: She talked thus, bent double, shaken with…" description: "\"“She talked thus, bent double, shaken with sobs, blinded by tears, her neck bare, clenching her hands, coughing with a dry and short cough, stammering ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64f/victor-hugo-32_grief_she-talked-thus-bent-double-shaken-with_2900642.jpg" --- # She talked thus, bent double, shaken with sobs, blinded by… ![“She talked thus, bent double, shaken with sobs, blinded by tears, her neck bare, clenching her hands, coughing with a dry and short cough, stammering very feebly with an agonised voice. Great grief is a divine and terrible radiance which transfigures the wretched. At that moment Fantine had again…” quote by Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64f/victor-hugo-32_grief_she-talked-thus-bent-double-shaken-with_2900642.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64f/victor-hugo-32_grief_she-talked-thus-bent-double-shaken-with_2900642.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64f/victor-hugo-32_grief_she-talked-thus-bent-double-shaken-with_2900642.jpg) > ““She talked thus, bent double, shaken with sobs, blinded by tears, her neck bare, clenching her hands, coughing with a dry and short cough, stammering very feebly with an agonised voice. Great grief is a divine and terrible radiance which transfigures the wretched. At that moment Fantine had again become beautiful. At certain instants she stopped and tenderly kissed the policeman’s coat. She would have softened a heart of granite; but you cannot soften a heart of wood”” [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. Great grief transforms suffering into a radiant, divine beauty, softening even hardened hearts. **In simple terms:** Deep sorrow can reveal profound beauty. Key Takeaway Embrace grief’s transformative power. Themes grief beauty transformation compassion Mood somber hopeful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal loss - artistic creation - healing rituals Key Concepts existential suffering spiritual radiance Questions to Reflect On - Can pain ever be wholly positive? - How does suffering inspire art? A Different Perspective Not all grief leads to beauty. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Grief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) ## Related quotes > [Great grief is a divine and terrible radiance which transfigures the wretched.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/great-grief-is-a-divine-and-terrible-radiance-which-transfigures-the/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Every day has its great grief or its small anxiety. ... One cloud is dispelled, another forms. There is hardly one day in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/every-day-has-its-great-grief-or-its-small-anxiety-one-cloud-is/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“She did not like seeing her loved ones like this, bent over with sorrow; everything in her wanted to cry out, to thrash and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-ursu/she-did-not-like-seeing-her-loved-ones-like-this-bent-over-with/) [Anne Ursu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-ursu/) > [There is no running away from a great grief.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-russell-mitford/there-is-no-running-away-from-a-great-grief/) [Mary Russell Mitford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-russell-mitford/) > [What happens when you have great grief in your life is the arteries of that heart begins to spasms down, just literally squeezes down…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-oz/what-happens-when-you-have-great-grief-in-your-life-is-the-arteries/) [Mehmet Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-oz/) > [I am someone who has a cold heart. If I am beside a great grief I throw barriers up so the loss cannot go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/i-am-someone-who-has-a-cold-heart-if-i-am-beside-a-great-grief-i/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [Great grief prays with great earnestness. Prayer is not a collection of balanced phrases; it is the pouring out of the soul. What is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-chadwick/great-grief-prays-with-great-earnestness-prayer-is-not-a-collection/) [Samuel Chadwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-chadwick/) > [But anyone who has been that young knows that the great grief of love is that your body feels the most when it knows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-dunant/but-anyone-who-has-been-that-young-knows-that-the-great-grief-of-love/) [Sarah Dunant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-dunant/) > [“Who has not in his great grief felt a longing to look upon the outward features of the universal Mother; to lie on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-rider-haggard/who-has-not-in-his-great-grief-felt-a-longing-to-look-upon-the/) [H. Rider Haggard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-rider-haggard/) > [Great grief does not of itself put an end to itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/great-grief-does-not-of-itself-put-an-end-to-itself/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It brings me great grief and sadness to hear of the passing of one of the best and most respected trainers of this era,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-de-la-hoya/it-brings-me-great-grief-and-sadness-to-hear-of-the-passing-of-one-of/) [Oscar De La Hoya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-de-la-hoya/) > [Grief, unresisted, is grace. It doesn't mean it doesn't hurt anymore, it doesn't mean it doesn't rip your heart out…In great grief, there's an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adyashanti/grief-unresisted-is-grace-it-doesn-t-mean-it-doesn-t-hurt-anymore-it/) [Adyashanti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adyashanti/) > [It is possible I am pushing through solid rock, like the vein of ore encased, alone. I am such a long way in I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/it-is-possible-i-am-pushing-through-solid-rock-like-the-vein-of-ore/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“Great grief can be worn charmingly by a beauty and I have seen a lot of gracious dignity at funerals in my time but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-fellowes/great-grief-can-be-worn-charmingly-by-a-beauty-and-i-have-seen-a-lot/) [Julian Fellowes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-fellowes/) > [Great grief makes sacred those upon whom its hand is laid. Joy may elevate, ambition glorify, but sorrow alone can consecrate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-greeley/great-grief-makes-sacred-those-upon-whom-its-hand-is-laid-joy-may/) [Horace Greeley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-greeley/) ## 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 Grief quotes > [“...they had lived, they'd lived intensely. But no matter how deeply you live, it comes to this in the end: one of you will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-morton/they-had-lived-they-d-lived-intensely-but-no-matter-how-deeply-you/) [Brian Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-morton/) > [“You must understand the pain and grief of losing someone is nothing more than a function of survival.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-cooper/you-must-understand-the-pain-and-grief-of-losing-someone-is-nothing/) [Steven Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-cooper/) > [You felt a deep sorrow, the kind of melancholy you feel when you're in a beautiful place and the sun is going down](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thrity-umrigar/you-felt-a-deep-sorrow-the-kind-of-melancholy-you-feel-when-you-re-in/) [Thrity Umrigar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thrity-umrigar/) > [... how much of our inner substance is it good for us to give to public griefs? The whole modern tendency to agonize over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-bogan/how-much-of-our-inner-substance-is-it-good-for-us-to-give-to-public/) [Louise Bogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-bogan/) > [You dont choose your life; it chooses you. Theres no point asking why life has reserved certain joys or griefs, you just accept them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/you-dont-choose-your-life-it-chooses-you-theres-no-point-asking-why/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“When we learn to attribute meaning to the events in our lives, we connect with our Higher Purpose, Higher Wisdom, or Source; we become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-barbara-apollon/when-we-learn-to-attribute-meaning-to-the-events-in-our-lives-we/) [Susan Barbara Apollon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-barbara-apollon/) > [Only to have a grief equal to all these tears!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/only-to-have-a-grief-equal-to-all-these-tears/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [Nowadays most people wear black most of the time anyway: go to a literary party and one would imagine everyone there was in perpetual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-weldon/nowadays-most-people-wear-black-most-of-the-time-anyway-go-to-a/) [Fay Weldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-weldon/) > [Suppressed grief suffocates, it rages within the breast, and is forced to multiply its strength.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/suppressed-grief-suffocates-it-rages-within-the-breast-and-is-forced/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [That Woman is in love with her own grief.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-zevin/that-woman-is-in-love-with-her-own-grief/) [Gabrielle Zevin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-zevin/) > [Short time seems long in sorrow's sharp sustaining.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/short-time-seems-long-in-sorrow-s-sharp-sustaining/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [These days grief seems like walking on a frozen river; most of the time he feels safe enough, but there is always that danger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-nicholls/these-days-grief-seems-like-walking-on-a-frozen-river-most-of-the/) [David Nicholls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-nicholls/) > [“You've been my beacon of light in my storm of grief, and I don't know if I could live without you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-ashley/you-ve-been-my-beacon-of-light-in-my-storm-of-grief-and-i-don-t-know/) [Katie Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-ashley/) > [Ancient eyes had stared at me, filled with ancient grief. And something more. Something so alien and unexpected that I'd almost burst into tears.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/ancient-eyes-had-stared-at-me-filled-with-ancient-grief-and-something/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [Meanwhile, the trees were just as green as before; the birds sang and the sun shone as clearly now as ever. The familiar surroundings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/meanwhile-the-trees-were-just-as-green-as-before-the-birds-sang-and/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) [Browse all 8,012 Grief quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“She talked thus, bent double, shaken with sobs, blinded by tears, her neck bare, clenching her hands, coughing with a dry and short cough, stammering very feebly with an agonised voice. 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