fate

Let the heavens fall, let the tides of the sea engulf her, what can it matter, she has had her fill.

-Victor Hugo

Les Miserables

jean valjean

Jean Valjean wept for a long time, and sobbed with more weakness than a woman, more terror than a child. While he wept, the light grew brighter in his brain, an extraordinary light, at once ravishing and terrible.

...

He looked at his life, and it appeared to him horrible; at his soul, and it appeared to him frightful. Still a soft light was shed over both, and he fancied that he saw Satan by the light of paradise.

-Victor Hugo

Les Misérables