One can no more keep the mind from returning to an idea than the sea from returning to a shore. For the sailor, this is called the tide; in the case of the guilty, it is called remorse. God stirs up the soul as well as the ocean.

[On n’empêche pas plus la pensée de revenir à une idée que la mer de revenir à un rivage. Pour le matelot, cela s’appelle la marée ; pour le coupable, cela s’appelle le remords. Dieu soulève l’âme comme l’océan.]

Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
Les Misérables, Part 1 “Fantine,” Book 7 “The Champmathieu,” ch. 3 (1.7.3) (1862) [tr. Wilbour / Fahnestock / MacAfee (1987)]
    (Source)

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

One can no more prevent the mind from returning to an idea than the sea from returning to a shore. In the case of the sailor, this is called the tide; in the case of the guilty, it is called remorse. God upheaves the soul as well as the ocean.
[tr. Wilbour (1862)]

It is no more possible to prevent thought from reverting to an idea than the sea from returning to the shore. With the sailor this is called the tide; with the culprit it is called remorse; God heaves the soul like the ocean.
[tr. Wraxall (1862)]

One can no more prevent thought from recurring to an idea than one can the sea from returning to the shore: the sailor calls it the tide; the guilty man calls it remorse; God upheaves the soul as he does the ocean.
[tr. Hapgood (1887)]

We can no more prevent a thought returning to the mind than we can prevent the sea from rising on the foreshore. To the sailor it is the tide, to the uneasy conscience it is remorse. God moves the soul as He moves the oceans.
[tr. Denny (1976)]

The mind is no more to be prevented from returning to an idea than the sea from returning to the shore. For the sailor this is called the tide. For the guilty man, it is called remorse. God stirs the soul as he causes the ocean to swell.
[tr. Donougher (2013)]


 
Added on 20-Jan-25 | Last updated 20-Jan-25
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