---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You preserve your shame but you kill your…"
description: "\"You preserve your shame but you kill your glory.\" — Victor Hugo"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e31/victor-hugo-32_civil-war_you-preserve-your-shame-but-you-kill-you_1055021.jpg"
---

#  You preserve your shame but you kill your glory.

![“You preserve your shame but you kill your glory.” quote by Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e31/victor-hugo-32_civil-war_you-preserve-your-shame-but-you-kill-you_1055021.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e31/victor-hugo-32_civil-war_you-preserve-your-shame-but-you-kill-you_1055021.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e31/victor-hugo-32_civil-war_you-preserve-your-shame-but-you-kill-you_1055021.jpg)

> “You preserve your shame but you kill your glory.”

[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.

Preserving shame sustains suffering, while letting go restores honor.

**In simple terms:** Shame kills glory; release it.

Key Takeaway

Release shame to reclaim dignity.

Themes

psychology honor shame redemption growth

Mood

somber hopeful reflective

Type

philosophical inspirational

When to use this quote

- public speaking
- conflict resolution
- personal healing

Key Concepts

self‑acceptance moral philosophy personal transformation

Questions to Reflect On

- What shame holds you back?
- How can you transform shame into strength?

A Different Perspective

Shame can be protective in some contexts.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Civil war](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civil-war/) [Glory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/glory/) [Kill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kill/) [Kill Glory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kill-glory-2545752/) [Preserve Shame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/preserve-shame-2545751/) [Preserves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/preserves/) [Shame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shame/) [Shame Kill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shame-kill-326903/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/)

## Related quotes

> [“I'm only one kill away from Command Assassin. Be a damn shame for that kill to be you" (Darion)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/i-m-only-one-kill-away-from-command-assassin-be-a-damn-shame-for-that/)

[Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/)

> [So I let my shame own me, kill me, wilt me away into a thousand dead flakes, knowing if I kept it all in,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-sorensen/so-i-let-my-shame-own-me-kill-me-wilt-me-away-into-a-thousand-dead/)

[Jessica Sorensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-sorensen/)

> [Shame can kill the imagination. It's hard to keep writing in the face of cultural derision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eloisa-james/shame-can-kill-the-imagination-it-s-hard-to-keep-writing-in-the-face/)

[Eloisa James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eloisa-james/)

> [“Civil war... What did the words mean? Was there any such thing as 'foreign war'? Was not all warfare between men warfare between brothers?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/civil-war-what-did-the-words-mean-was-there-any-such-thing-as-foreign/)

[Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/)

> [What says the law? You will not kill. How does it say it? By killing!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/what-says-the-law-you-will-not-kill-how-does-it-say-it-by-killing/)

[Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/)

> [Nothing but free argument, raillery and even ridicule will preserve the purity of religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/nothing-but-free-argument-raillery-and-even-ridicule-will-preserve/)

[Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/)

> [Is it possible to preserve the element of Unknown Places in our national life? Is it practicable to do so, without undue loss in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldo-leopold/is-it-possible-to-preserve-the-element-of-unknown-places-in-our/)

[Aldo Leopold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldo-leopold/)

> [Language always preserves a play or figure/ground relation between experience, and perception and its replay in expression.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/language-always-preserves-a-play-or-figure-ground-relation-between/)

[Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/)

> [The history of institutions is often a history of deception and illusions; for their virtue depends on the ideas that produce and on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-acton/the-history-of-institutions-is-often-a-history-of-deception-and/)

[Lord Acton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-acton/)

> [Preserve your energy - do not waste it on mediocre activity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-wilde/preserve-your-energy-do-not-waste-it-on-mediocre-activity/)

[Stuart Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-wilde/)

> [No price is too great to preserve the health of the fleet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/no-price-is-too-great-to-preserve-the-health-of-the-fleet/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [The 'key-log' which must be moved to release the evolutionary process for an ethic is simply this: quit thinking about decent land-use as solely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/land-ethic/the-key-log-which-must-be-moved-to-release-the-evolutionary-process/)

[Land ethic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/land-ethic/)

> [The possibility of saying anything about a thing rests on the assumption that it preserves its identity, or continues to be the same thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-knight/the-possibility-of-saying-anything-about-a-thing-rests-on-the/)

[Frank Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-knight/)

> [Some voluntary castaways there will always be, whom no fostering kindness and no parental care can preserve from self-destruction; but if any are lost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/some-voluntary-castaways-there-will-always-be-whom-no-fostering/)

[Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/)

> [To preserve an unclouded capacity for the enjoyment of life is an unusual moral and psychological achievement. Contrary to popular belief, it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-branden/to-preserve-an-unclouded-capacity-for-the-enjoyment-of-life-is-an/)

[Nathaniel Branden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-branden/)

## 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 Civil war quotes

> [“Time overlaps itself. A breath breathed from a passing breeze is not the whole wind, neither is it just the last of what has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-kesey/time-overlaps-itself-a-breath-breathed-from-a-passing-breeze-is-not/)

[Ken Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-kesey/)

> [“Whatever happened in those more than one hundred years, from the time my great-great-great grandfather studied law to the time when my own father…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwenn-wright/whatever-happened-in-those-more-than-one-hundred-years-from-the-time/)

[Gwenn Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwenn-wright/)

> [“AUSTRALIA, LIKE THE UNITED STATES, experienced a different path to inclusive institutions than the one taken by England. The same revolutions that shook England…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daron-acemo-lu/australia-like-the-united-states-experienced-a-different-path-to/)

[Daron Acemoğlu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daron-acemo-lu/)

> [“These are all good things, I said. But no one knows where your country is or who you are. You don't have a familiar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-shteyngart/these-are-all-good-things-i-said-but-no-one-knows-where-your-country/)

[Gary Shteyngart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-shteyngart/)

> [“Thinking about the weather was one way of shutting out of his mind the appalling bloody human mess sprawled out over the bed of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-ellis/thinking-about-the-weather-was-one-way-of-shutting-out-of-his-mind/)

[Mark Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-ellis/)

> [It cost about 75 cents to kill a man in Ceasar's time. The price rose to about $3,000 per man during the Napoleonic wars;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer-bone/it-cost-about-75-cents-to-kill-a-man-in-ceasar-s-time-the-price-rose/)

[Homer Bone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer-bone/)

> [Alabama soldiers, all I ask of you is to keep up with the Texans!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-e-lee/alabama-soldiers-all-i-ask-of-you-is-to-keep-up-with-the-texans/)

[Robert E. Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-e-lee/)

> [“ “In the South, football is confused with religion, chivalry, the Civil War, and women.” -Diane Roberts, The Quotable South ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-ford/in-the-south-football-is-confused-with-religion-chivalry-the-civil/)

[Deborah Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-ford/)

> [“By the following morning, September 15, Jackson had positioned nearly fifty guns on Maryland Heights and at the base of Loudoun Heights.  Then he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-river-editors/by-the-following-morning-september-15-jackson-had-positioned-nearly/)

[Charles River Editors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-river-editors/)

> [Strange, (is it not?) that battles, martyrs, blood, even assassination should so condense - perhaps only really lastingly condense - a Nationality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/strange-is-it-not-that-battles-martyrs-blood-even-assassination/)

[Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/)

> [You must study to be frank with the world: frankness is the child of honesty and courage. Say just what you mean to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-e-lee/you-must-study-to-be-frank-with-the-world-frankness-is-the-child-of/)

[Robert E. Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-e-lee/)

> [“Civil wars...are the best wars for the writer...because they have a way of continuing long afterwl wars between nations are resolved; because, with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/civil-wars-are-the-best-wars-for-the-writer-because-they-have-a-way/)

[Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/)

> [I am out of money,we are all out of money,but we dont need money down here- Dont need anything but Men , Muskets, Ammunition,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-connolly/i-am-out-of-money-we-are-all-out-of-money-but-we-dont-need-money-down/)

[James A. Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-connolly/)

> [Affirmative action was designed to recognize the uniquely difficult journey of African-Americans. This policy was justifiable and understandable, even to those who came from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-webb/affirmative-action-was-designed-to-recognize-the-uniquely-difficult/)

[Jim Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-webb/)

> [“Only twenty - nine years in the entire human history had been without warfare, and now here he was too, travelling between the episodes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadeem-aslam/only-twenty-nine-years-in-the-entire-human-history-had-been-without/)

[Nadeem Aslam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadeem-aslam/)

[Browse all 1,714 Civil war quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civil-war/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "You preserve your shame but you kill your glory.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Victor Hugo"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/you-preserve-your-shame-but-you-kill-your-glory/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Civil war"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/you-preserve-your-shame-but-you-kill-your-glory/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e31/victor-hugo-32_civil-war_you-preserve-your-shame-but-you-kill-you_1055021.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e31/victor-hugo-32_civil-war_you-preserve-your-shame-but-you-kill-you_1055021.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e31/victor-hugo-32_civil-war_you-preserve-your-shame-but-you-kill-you_1055021.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“You preserve your shame but you kill your glory.” — 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": "You preserve your shame but you...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/you-preserve-your-shame-but-you-kill-your-glory/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/you-preserve-your-shame-but-you-kill-your-glory/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
