The need of the immaterial is the most deeply rooted of all needs. One must have bread; but before bread, one must have the ideal.
Ce besoin de l’immatériel est le plus vivace de tous. Il faut du pain; mais avant le pain, il faut l’idéal.
Original text (French)
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Notes from Wikiquote
"Les fleurs," (ca. 1860 - 1865), from Oeuvres complètes (1909); published in English as The Memoirs of Victor Hugo, trans. John W. Harding (1899), Chapter VI: Love in Prison, part II