Les Misérables Quotes

Javert: Now Prisoner 24601, your time is up and your parole's begun. You know what that means?

Jean Valjean: Yes, it means I'm free.

Javert: No.

[hands him a yellow paper]

Javert: Follow to the letter your itinerary, this badge of shame you wear until you die. It warns that you're a dangerous man.

Jean Valjean: I stole a loaf of bread. My sisters child was close to death, and we were starving...

Javert: And you will starve again unless you learn the meaning of the law!

Jean Valjean: I've learnt the meaning of those nineteen years; a slave of the law.

Javert: Five years for what you did. The rest because you tried to run, yes 24601...

Jean Valjean: My name is Jean Valjean!

Javert: And I'm Javert! Do not forget my name. Do not forget me, 24601.

Marius: In my life, there is someone who touches my life. Waiting near...

Éponine: Waiting here...

Marius: [about Cosette] Eponine, find her for me!

Éponine: What will you give me?

Marius: Anything!

Éponine: Got you all excited now, but God knows what you see in her! Aren't you all delighted now?

[Marius offers her money]

Éponine: No, I don't want your money, sir.

Thénardier: Everybody raise a glass!

Madame Thénardier: Raise it up the master's arse!

Bishop: Monsieur, release him. This man has spoken true. I commend you for your duty, now God's blessing go with you.

[to Valjean]

Bishop: But remember this, my brother. See in this some higher plan. You must use this precious silver to become an honest man. By the witness of the martyrs, by the passion and the blood, God has brought you out of darkness. I have bought your soul for God.

[first lines]

Jean Valjean: Look down, look down, don't look them in the eye.

Chain Gang: Look down, look down, you're here until you die.

Jean Valjean: How have you come to grief in a place such as this?

Fantine: M'sieur, don't mock me now, I pray. It's hard enough I've lost my pride. You let your foreman send me away - yes, you were there, and turned aside. I never did no wrong

Jean Valjean: Is it true, what I have done? To an innocent soul? Had I only known then...

Fantine: My daughter's close to dying. If there's a God above... He'd let me die instead...

Jean Valjean: In His name my task has just begun, I will see it done!

Madame Thénardier: Wait a bit! Know that face! Ain't the world a remarkable place!

Thénardier: Men like me don't forget. You're the bastard that borrowed Colette!

Madame Thénardier: Cosette!

Thénardier: Whatever.

Jean Valjean: What is this? Are you mad? No, Monsieur, you don't know what you say!

Thénardier: You know me! I know you!

Madame Thénardier: And you pay what you due!

Thénardier: And you'll better dig deep!

Madame Thénardier: Grr, she doesn't come cheap!

Thénardier: Brujon!

Éponine: It's the police! Disappear! Run for it! It's Javert!

Thénardier: Jean Valjean - the old con. You pay up and I'll say where he's gone.

Marius: [handing Thénardier money] Not so loud! Here's for you. God forgive us the things that we do.

Madame Thénardier: How's about some extra on a day so glad. Our little orphan girl, she hasn't done so bad. Raised in a convent, cash to spare - we want our share.

Thénardier: [Marius hands over yet more money to Madame Thénardier] Quite the little nun, ain't she!

Marius: [Marius punches Thénardier across the face. He falls through a door. Marius bends down to Thénardier who is almost unconscious] Where is he?

Thénardier: [cowardly] The convent.

Jean Valjean: Who am I?

Marius: You're Jean Valjean...

Madame Thénardier: [to male customer] I used to dream that I would meet a prince, but God Almighty, have you seen what's happened since?

Thénardier: [defensive as others stare at him] What? What?

Madame Thénardier: Master of the house isn't worth my spit. Comforter, philosopher, and life-long shit. Cunning little brain; regular Voltaire. Thinks he's quite a lover, but there's not much there.

[All stare at his crotch]

Madame Thénardier: [pretending to cry] What a cruel trick of nature landed me with such a louse.

[She takes the man's purse while he's distracted]

Madame Thénardier: [suddenly cheering up] God knows how I've lasted living with this bastard in the house!

Javert: I am reaching but I fall, and the stars are black and cold, as I stare into the void, of a world that cannot hold. I'll escape now from that world; from the world of Jean Valjean. There is nowhere I can turn. There is no way to go on!

[Jumps from the bridge to his death, upon the weir/river beneath]

Marius: Eponine, you're the friend who has brought me here. Thanks to you, I am with one with the Gods and heaven is near! And I soar through a world that is new, that is free.

Éponine: [to herself] Every word that he says is a dagger in me. In my life, there has been no one like him anywhere. Anywhere where he is. If he asks, I'll be his.

Thénardier: What to do? What to say? Shall you carry our little treasure away? What a gem! What a pearl! Beyond rubies is our little girl. How can we speak of debt? Let's not haggle for darling Colette.

Madame Thénardier: [whispering] Cosette.

Thénardier: [correcting himself] Cosette.

Enjolras: One more day before the storm...

Marius: Do I follow where she goes?

Enjolras: ...At the barricades of freedom!

Marius: Shall I join my brothers there?

Enjolras: When our ranks begin to form...

Marius: Do I stay and do I dare?

Enjolras: ...Will you take your place with me?

Joly: Marius, wake up! What's wrong today? You look as if you've seen a ghost.

Grantaire: Some wine and say what's going on!

Marius: A ghost, you say? A ghost, maybe. She was just like a ghost to me. One minute there, then she was gone.

Grantaire: I am agog! I am aghast! Is Marius in love at last? I've never heard him "ooh" and "aah"! You talk of battles to be won, and here he comes like Don Juan. It is better than an opera!

Enjolras: It is time for us all to decide who we are. Do we fight for the right to a night at the opera now? Have you asked of yourself what's the price you might pay? Is this simply a game for a rich young boy to play? The colors of the world are changing day by day! Red, the blood of angry men! Black, the dark of ages past! Red, a world about to dawn! Black, the night that ends at last!

Javert: Listen, my friends, I have done as I said. I have been to their lines, I have counted each man. I will tell what I can. Better beware, they have armies to spare. And our danger is real, we will need all our cunning to bring them to heel.

Enjolras: Have faith! If you know what their movements are, we'll spoil their game. There are ways that a people can fight. We shall overcome their power!

Javert: I have overheard their plans, there will be no attack tonight. They intend to starve you out, before they start a proper fight. Concentrate their force, hit us when it's light.

Gavroche: Liar! Good evening, dear inspector! Lovely evening, my dear! I know this man, my friends, his name's Inspector Javert! So don't believe a word he says, because none of it's true. This only goes to show what little people can do.

Courfeyrac: Bravo, little Gavroche, you're the top of the class.

Combeferre: So what are we going to do with this snake in the grass?

Enjolras: Take this man and throw him in the tavern in there. The people will decide your fate, Inspector Javert.

Javert: Shoot me now or shoot me later, every schoolboy to his sport! Death to each and every traitor, I renounce your people's court!

Javert: Monsieur le Mayor, I have a crime to declare. I have disgraced the uniform that I wear. I've done you wrong; let no forgiveness be shown. I've been as hard on every rogue I have known. I mistook you for a convict; I have made a false report. Now I learn they caught the culprit; he's about to face the court. And of course he now denies it; you'd expect that of a con. But he couldn't run forever, no not even Jean Valjean.

Jean Valjean: You say this man denies it all and gives no sign of understanding or reptentance? You say this man is going to trial and that he's sure to be returned to serve his sentence?

Javert: He will pay, and so must I. Press charges against me, sir.

Jean Valjean: You have only done your duty. It's a minor sin, at most. All of us have made misjudgments; you'll return, sir, to your post.

Javert: Valjean, at last, we see each other plain. Monsieur le Mayor, you'll wear a different chain.

Jean Valjean: Before you say another word, Javert, before you chain me up like a slave again, listen to me. There is something I must do. This woman leaves behind a suffering child. There is none but me who can intercede. In mercy's name, three days are all I need. Then I'll return. I pledge my word. Then I'll return...

Javert: You must think me mad! I've hunted you across the years. Men like you can never change, a man such as you...

Cosette: You will live, Papa you're going to live. It's too soon too soon to say goodbye.

Jean Valjean: Yes Cosette, forbid me now to die I'll obey. I'll try. On this page I write my last confession. Read it well when I at last am sleeping. It's the story of one who turned from hating - a man who only learned to love when you were in his keeping.

Fantine: There's a child who sorely needs me, Please M'sieur, she's but that high. Holy God, is there no mercy? If I go to jail she'll die!

Javert: I have heard such protestations, every day for twenty years. Let's have no more explanations. Save your breath, and save your tears.

Javert: Another brawl in the square, another stink in the air. Was there a witness to this? Well, let him speak to Javert. Monsieur, these streets are not safe. We'll let these vermin beware, we'll see that justice is done. Look upon this fine collection, grown from underneath a stone. This swarm of worms and maggots would have picked you to the bone. I know this man over here, I know his name and his trade and on your witness, monsieur, I'll see him suitably paid. But where's the gentleman gone, and why on earth would he run?

Thénardier: You'll have a job to find him. He's not all he seems to be. And that girl he trails behind him is the child he stole from me.

Madame Thénardier: Yeah, and me.

Thénardier: Yeah, both of us.

Javert: Could it be he's that old jailbird, that the tide now washes in? Heard my name and started running, all the omens point to him.

Thénardier: In the... absence of a victim, dear inspector, may I go? And remember when you've knicked him, it was me what told you so.

Javert: Let the old man keep on running, I will run him off his feet. Everyone about your business, clear this garbage off the street.

Enjolras: Where are the leaders of the land? Where is the king who runs this show?

Marius: Only one man, General Lamarque. Speaks for the people here below!

Enjolras: Lamarque is ill and fading fast. Won't last the week out, so they say.

Marius: With all the anger in the land, how long before the Judgment Day?

Enjolras: Before we cut the fat ones down to size?

Enjolras, Marius: Before the barricades arise?

Marius: Enjolras, the rain has damaged the gunpowder. We're low on ammunition.

Enjolras: We're the only barricade left.

Marius: What?

Enjolras: We're the only ones left.

Factory Woman 1: And what have we here, little innocent sister? Oh, come on, Fantine, let's have all the news.

[reading the note]

Factory Woman 1: "Dear Fantine, you must send us more money. Your child needs a doctor; there's no time to lose."

Fantine: [taking it back] Give that letter to me; it is none of your business. With a husband at home and a bit on the side? Is there anyone here who can say swear before God she has nothing to fear, she has nothing to hide?

Jean Valjean: What is this fighting all about? Will someone tear these two apart? This is a factory, not a circus. Come on, ladies, settle down. I am the mayor of this town, I run a business of repute.

[alarmed to see Javert waiting in his office]

Jean Valjean: Deal with this, foreman. Be as patient as you can.

Foreman: Yes, Monsieur Madeleine.

[Valjean leaves]

Foreman: Now, someone say how this began.

Factory Woman 5: At the end of the day, she's the one who began it.

Factory Woman 1: There's a kid that she's hiding in some little town.

Factory Woman 5: There's a man she has to pay.

Factory Woman 1: You can guess how she picks up the extra. You can bet she's earning her keep sleeping around. And the boss wouldn't like it.

Fantine: Yes, it's true there's a child and the child is my daughter. And her father abandoned us, leaving us flat. Now she lives with an innkeeper man and his wife and I pay for the child. What's the matter with that?

Fantine: Cosette, it's turned so cold. Cosette, it's past your bedtime. You've played the day away, and soon it will be night. Come to me, Cosette, the light is fading. Don't you see the evening star appearing? Come to me, and rest against my shoulder. How fast the minutes fly away and every minute colder.

Jean Valjean: Dear Fantine, Cosette will be here soon. Dear Fantine, she will be by your side.

Fantine: Come, Cosette. My child, where did you go?

Jean Valjean: Be at peace. Be at peace evermore.

Fantine: My Cosette...

Jean Valjean: Shall live in my protection.

Fantine: Take her now.

Jean Valjean: Your child will want for nothing.

Fantine: Good monsieur, you come from God in heaven. Tell Cosette I love her, and I'll see her when I wake.

Jean Valjean: God on high, hear my prayer. Take me now, to Thy care. Where you are, let me be. Take me now, take me there. Bring me home. Bring me home.

Fantine: Monsieur, I bless your name.

Jean Valjean: I am ready, Fantine.

Fantine: Monsieur, lay down your burden.

Jean Valjean: At the end of my days.

Fantine: You raised my child in love.

Jean Valjean: She's the best of my life.

Fantine: And you will be with God.

Constable 1: Monsignor, we have your silver. We caught this man red-handed. He had the nerve to say you gave him this.

Bishop: That is right.

[retrieving two silver candlesticks and giving them to Valjean]

Bishop: But my friend, you left so early; surely something slipped your mind. You forgot I gave these, also. Would you leave the best behind?

Enjolras: And here he comes like Don Juan

Enjolras: It is better than an opera

[last lines]

Jean Valjean: I'm ready Fantine.

Gavroche: [delivers the letter] Letter from the the barricade..

Jean Valjean: From the barricade? I'll take it.

[Gavaroche refuses until Valjean pays him in which he does]

Gavroche: [takes the coin and hands the letter] Something for me, something for you. Who needs charity?

Jean Valjean: Boy. You away from there, you understand?

[Valjean digs into the food he's been given]

Bishop: Bless the food we eat today. Bless our dear sister and our guest.

[after Valjean reveals himself to be Prisoner 24601 to the judge]

Magistrate: Monsieur le Mayor, you are not well. You must come with me.

Jean Valjean: If you don't believe me, as Inspector Javert. You'll find me at the hospital.

Madame Thénardier: [kicks Thénardier] Wakey, wakey. We're opening.

Thénardier: [sleeping] I love you.

[Thénardier kisses the barrel]

Thénardier: I love you so much.

[first lines]

[Valjean gets stopped by Javert while the remaining prisoners leave]

Javert: Retrieve the flag.

Jean Valjean: Where is your child?

Fantine: With the innkeeper in Montfermeil.

Jean Valjean: I will send for her immediately.

Fantine: [shocked] Oh, Monsieur.

Marius: Éponine. What are you doing here?

Éponine: [pulls out the letter] I kept it from you.

Enjolras: [to the fellow rebels] Get some of the musketts inside.

Éponine: It's from Cosette.

[Marius takes the letter]

Courfeyrac: [to Enjolras] The rain's going to ruin the gunpowder.

Éponine: I'm sorry.

Courfeyrac: [to Enjloras] They're gone. They're gone.

Marius: [notices Éponine clutching herself] What have you done?

[Marius realizes that she's been shot]

Marius: [cradling Éponine] 'Ponine.

Army Officer: Who's there?

Enjolras: French revolution.

Army Officer: [commands the officers] Fire.

Gillenormad: Marius.

Marius: Grandfather.

Gillenormad: Have you any idea of the shame you bring on our family? An utter disgrace.

Thénardier: [steals an item from one of the rebel corpses] Thank you. Long live the revolution.

[Thénardier steals Marius' ring]

Thénardier: Here's a pretty ring.

[Thénardier sees Valjean next to Marius]

Thénardier: Oh. Hello.

[Valjean grabs Thénardier]

Thénardier: You're alive. I saved you.

Jean Valjean: [releases Thénardier and picks up Marius' body] How do I get out of here?

Thénardier: It's that way. All the way down and to the left.

Marius: Gavaroche, will you do something for me?

Gavroche: Anything. Without you, I'd have bitten the dust.