“Dream no small dreams, for they have no power to stir the souls of men.”
What this quote means
Victor Hugo urges us to dream big. Small dreams inspire neither us nor others; they lack the power to mobilize energies. This quote resonates because it pushes us beyond our fears and toward ambitions that transcend us. It applies when we limit our aspirations out of caution or fear of failure.
How to apply it daily
Write down a dream you've deemed too ambitious. List three concrete actions to start realizing it this week.
Reading guide
Which book should you read to discover Victor Hugo?
Our starting point
Discovering Hugo's full epic and humanist range
Les Misérables
His great novel brings together the questions of justice, poverty, forgiveness, and commitment that run through his work.
- Level
- Intermediate
- Reading time
- 25–35 hours
- Formats to compare
- Print · Ebook · Audio
Merchant links help compare editions. Recommendations are editorially independent.
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