--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: So long as there shall exist, by virtue…" description: "\"“So long as there shall exist, by virtue of law and custom, decrees of damnation pronounced by society, artificially creating hells amid the civilizati..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/747/victor-hugo-32_divine-destiny_so-long-as-there-shall-exist-by-virtue-o_2671560.jpg" --- # So long as there shall exist, by virtue of law and custom… ![“So long as there shall exist, by virtue of law and custom, decrees of damnation pronounced by society, artificially creating hells amid the civilization of earth, and adding the element of human fate to divine destiny; so long as the three great problems of the century—the degradation of man…” quote by Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/747/victor-hugo-32_divine-destiny_so-long-as-there-shall-exist-by-virtue-o_2671560.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/747/victor-hugo-32_divine-destiny_so-long-as-there-shall-exist-by-virtue-o_2671560.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/747/victor-hugo-32_divine-destiny_so-long-as-there-shall-exist-by-virtue-o_2671560.jpg) > ““So long as there shall exist, by virtue of law and custom, decrees of damnation pronounced by society, artificially creating hells amid the civilization of earth, and adding the element of human fate to divine destiny; so long as the three great problems of the century—the degradation of man through pauperism, the corruption of woman through hunger, the crippling of children through lack of light—are unsolved; so long as social asphyxia is possible in any part of the world;—in other words, and with a still wider significance, so long as ignorance and poverty exist on earth, books of the nature of Les Misérables cannot fail to be of use. HAUTEVILLE HOUSE, 1862. \[Translation by Isabel F. Hapgood\]”” [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. As long as poverty and ignorance persist, works like Les Misérables remain essential for social awareness. **In simple terms:** Books help when poverty and ignorance exist. Key Takeaway Use literature to highlight social issues. Themes social justice poverty education Mood thoughtful urgent Type literary activist When to use this quote - activism - teaching - policy advocacy Key Concepts human rights literature as catalyst Questions to Reflect On - How can we act beyond reading? - What role does art play in reform? A Different Perspective Literature alone can't solve systemic problems. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Divine destiny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/divine-destiny/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Les Miserables](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/les-miserables/) [Les-miserables](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/les-mis-rables/) [Political](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political/) [Poverty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poverty/) [Society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society/) [Victor-hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/victor-hugo/) ## Related quotes > [So long as ignorance and poverty exist on earth, books of the nature of Les Miserables cannot fail to be of use.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/so-long-as-ignorance-and-poverty-exist-on-earth-books-of-the-nature/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Religion in modern society is only artificially kept together and upheld by the Church and by those Governments to whose social or private interest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rmin-v-mb-ry/religion-in-modern-society-is-only-artificially-kept-together-and/) Ármin Vámbéry > [“So long as there shall exist, by reason of law and custom, a social condemnation which, in the midst of civilization, artificially creates a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/so-long-as-there-shall-exist-by-reason-of-law-and-custom-a-social-2/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“So long as there shall exist, by reason of law and custom, a social condemnation, which, in the face of civilisation, artificially creates hells…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/so-long-as-there-shall-exist-by-reason-of-law-and-custom-a-social/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Did I exist before my birth? No. Shall I exist after death? No. What am I? A little dust collected in an organism. What…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/did-i-exist-before-my-birth-no-shall-i-exist-after-death-no-what-am-i-2/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“They shall exist, and so long as society shall be what it is, they will be what they are. Under the dark vault of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/they-shall-exist-and-so-long-as-society-shall-be-what-it-is-they-will/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Did I exist before my birth? No. Shall I exist after death? No. What am I? A little dust collected in an organism. What…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/did-i-exist-before-my-birth-no-shall-i-exist-after-death-no-what-am-i/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Poverty would always exist when we allow injustices to speak.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-johnson-jr/poverty-would-always-exist-when-we-allow-injustices-to-speak/) [Henry Johnson Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-johnson-jr/) > [Seventy-five percent of our energy around the earth is being poured into war efforts. Are we servants of death and destruction? This 75 percent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/seventy-five-percent-of-our-energy-around-the-earth-is-being-poured/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Life doesn't exist anywhere but Earth? 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I am not an enthusiast, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-tumlinson/i-am-a-spacer-it-is-what-and-who-i-am-it-is-my-cause-and-my-life-i-am/) [Rick Tumlinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-tumlinson/) > [“Justin is twenty-four years old: the world will never be more suited to him than it is now, he will never feel more embraced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonya-hartnett/justin-is-twenty-four-years-old-the-world-will-never-be-more-suited/) [Sonya Hartnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonya-hartnett/) > [There is a clarity, a brilliance to space that simply doesn't exist on earth, even on a cloudless summer's day in the Rockies, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gus-grissom/there-is-a-clarity-a-brilliance-to-space-that-simply-doesn-t-exist-on/) [Gus Grissom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gus-grissom/) > [“Life cannot exist without the Earth. Yet there is a not-insubstantial chance that life will win its war, and destroy the Earth. We’ve come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-k-jemisin/life-cannot-exist-without-the-earth-yet-there-is-a-not-insubstantial/) [N.K. Jemisin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-k-jemisin/) ## 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 Divine destiny quotes > [It is your birthright to discover your sacred contract. It will guide you to find your divine destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-myss/it-is-your-birthright-to-discover-your-sacred-contract-it-will-guide/) [Caroline Myss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-myss/) > [“Destiny is a gift – of you, to yourself and to the world – to be unwrapped over time. But before you can find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-arcuri/destiny-is-a-gift-of-you-to-yourself-and-to-the-world-to-be-unwrapped/) [Dana Arcuri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-arcuri/) > [“For all his gentleness and humility unto death on the Cross, God does not relinquish his attribute of being judge and consuming fire. Nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-urs-von-balthasar/for-all-his-gentleness-and-humility-unto-death-on-the-cross-god-does/) [Hans Urs von Balthasar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-urs-von-balthasar/) > [To the God in myself is probably the most honest answer. I think everybody has a divine destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-jones/to-the-god-in-myself-is-probably-the-most-honest-answer-i-think/) [Van Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-jones/) > [“SHOW GOOD WILL TO ALL Be fearless and pure; never waiver in your determination or your dedication to the spiritual life. Give freely. Be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bhagavad-gita/show-good-will-to-all-be-fearless-and-pure-never-waiver-in-your/) [Bhagavad Gita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bhagavad-gita/) > [Every one of us has secret dreams and desires along with seeds of greatness implanted within us. You too have gifts to share with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-osteen/every-one-of-us-has-secret-dreams-and-desires-along-with-seeds-of/) [Joel Osteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-osteen/) > [“‎..:We must play with the hand God deals us. Not look for a new deck. We could bluff or draw, but we can't cheat.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rafael-garcia/we-must-play-with-the-hand-god-deals-us-not-look-for-a-new-deck-we/) [Rafael Garcia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rafael-garcia/) > [Sometimes You're Facing Difficulties, Not Because You're Doing Something Wrong. But Because You Are Doing Something Right. It's Just Another Step Of The Way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pacifiersucker/sometimes-you-re-facing-difficulties-not-because-you-re-doing/) Pacifiersucker > [“An unrenewed mind will keep you from the will of God and cause you to miss out on your divine destiny. An”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacie-buck/an-unrenewed-mind-will-keep-you-from-the-will-of-god-and-cause-you-to/) Stacie Buck > [No bad break, no disappointment, no accident can shorten one second of my divine destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-osteen/no-bad-break-no-disappointment-no-accident-can-shorten-one-second-of/) [Joel Osteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-osteen/) > [It is the activation of our personal will that brings us into engagement with our divine destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-mamerto/it-is-the-activation-of-our-personal-will-that-brings-us-into/) [Edwin Mamerto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-mamerto/) > [Unbeliever is he who follows predestination even if he be Muslim, Faithful is he, if he himself is the Divine Destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-iqbal/unbeliever-is-he-who-follows-predestination-even-if-he-be-muslim/) [Muhammad Iqbal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-iqbal/) > [“Power is defined as an ability to do qualitative work with a quantitative passion, backed by a compelling conviction, directed by a propelling purpose,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/power-is-defined-as-an-ability-to-do-qualitative-work-with-a/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [“The next time you get into your car, notice the size of the front windscreen, compared to the size of the rear view mirror.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rev-j-martin/the-next-time-you-get-into-your-car-notice-the-size-of-the-front/) Rev. 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