The law of mankind – Extract from Les Miserables

He was never quick to condemn and he always took into account the surrounding circumstances. He would say, “Let’s see how this sin came to pass.”

Being, as he laughingly described himself, an ex-sinner, he had nothing of the purest about him and boldly professed, without the mad frowning of the ferociously virtuous, a doctrine that may be summed up as follows; “Man is made of flesh and that flesh is both a burden and a temptation to him. He drags it around with him and he yields to it.

“He should keep a close eye on it, put the lid on it, repress it, and only give in to it at the last extremity. There may still be some sin in giving in to it even then; but such a sin is venial. It is a slip, but a slip onto one’s knees, which may well end in prayer.

“To be a saint is the exception; to be a just person is the rule. Err, stumble, commit sin, but be one of the just.

“Sin as little as possible – that is the law of mankind. Not to sin at all is the dream of the angel. All earthly things are subject to sin. Sin is like gravity.”

Whenever he saw people indignant over something, rushing to get on their high horse, he would say, with a smile, “Tut! Tut! This would seem to be a serious crime that everyone commits! The hypocrites are so shocked they can’t point their fingers and duck for cover fast enough.”

He went easy on women and the poor, feeling that the weight of human society fell on them. He would say, “The sins of women and children, domestic servants and the weak, the poor and the ignorant, are the sins of the husbands and fathers, the masters, the strong and the rich and the educated.”

From Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, translated by Julie Rose.

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