To put everything in balance is good, to put everything in harmony is better. Above the scales there’s the lyre.

[Mettre tout en équilibre, c’est bien; mettre tout en harmonie, c’est mieux. Au-dessus de la balance il y a la lyre.]

Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer

Ninety-Three [Quatrevingt-Treize], Part 3, Book 7, ch. 5 (1874) [tr. (1962)]
    (Source)

Gauvain, arguing for a "republic of the ideal" rather than Cimourdain's law-focused "republic of the absolute."

(Source (French)). Other translations:

Putting everything in equilibrium is good; making everything harmonious is better. Above the scales is the lyre.
[tr. Dole (1885)]

An accurate adjustment of proportions is a good thing, but harmony is still better. The lyre stands higher than the scales.
[tr. Delano (1888)]

To set all in equilibrium, is well; to put all in harmony, it is better. Above the balance is the lyre.
[tr. Gray (1903)]

To set all in equilibrium, it is well; to put all in harmony, it is better. Above the Balance is the Lyre.
[tr. Gray/Benedict (1988)]