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Who really said it

Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent

Written by Victor Hugo 1802–1885 · French writer
Verified Free to reuse

This wording appears in A. Baillot’s translation of Hugo’s William Shakespeare, Part I, Book II, Chapter IV. The inspected edition’s title page is dated 1864.

Last verified 9 Nov 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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“Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent” — Victor Hugo, William Shakespeare, Part I, Book II, Chapter IV; A. Baillot translation, inspected edition dated 1864.

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Evoking the world of Victor Hugo — French writer. Theme: "Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

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Provenance

The source

Source
William Shakespeare, Part I, Book II, Chapter IV
Status
Fetched full Gutenberg text: title page credits A. Baillot and 1864; Chapter IV contains the exact sentence apart from a comma after said. Wikiquote independently anchors the French work; no unsupported edition details added.
Translation
A. Baillot; inspected edition dated 1864

Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.

Baillot translation

How we verified this

Public domain

The inspected A. Baillot English edition carries an 1864 title-page date. This specific translation predates 1931 and is public domain in the United States.

Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.

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Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Baillot translationwww.gutenberg.org

Title page credits A. Baillot and 1864; text contains this sentence with a comma after said.
Sourced Hugo quotationsen.wikiquote.org

Places the French and English line in William Shakespeare, Part I Book II Chapter IV.
Translation comparisonwist.info

Distinguishes Baillot wording from Anderson’s 1886 rendering.
Hugo biographyen.wikipedia.org

Life dates and literary career.

The author

About Victor Hugo

Victor Hugo

1802–1885 · French writer

Victor Hugo was a French novelist, poet and critic. William Shakespeare is his book about artistic genius, not a work written by the English playwright.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

The primary source (Chicago)

Hugo, Victor. William Shakespeare. Translated by A. Baillot. Boston: Estes and Lauriat, 1864. Part I, Book II, Chapter IV. Project Gutenberg transcription.

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent’?” Last verified 9 Nov 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/music-expresses-that-which-cannot-be-said-and-on-which-it/

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