“Nothing makes a man so adventurous as an empty pocket.”

“When they saw him making money, they said, "He is a man of business." When they saw him scattering his money about, they said, "He is an ambitious man." When he was seen to decline honors, they said, "He is an adventurer." When they saw him repulse society, they said, "He is a brute.”

“The crowd mistrusts the allurement of paladins. The masses, ponderous bodies that they are, and fragile on account of their very heaviness, fear adventure; and there is adventure in the ideal.”

“He reached for his pocket, and found there, only reality”

“If he had had all Peru in his pocket, he would certainly have given it to this dancer; but Gringoire had not Peru in his pocket; and besides, America was not yet discovered. (p. 66)”

“To see nothing of a person makes it possible to credit him with all the perfection.”

“A man without a woman is like a pistol without a trigger; it is the woman who makes the man go off.”