Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo (26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France. Outside of France, Hugo’s best known works are Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.
Hugo wrote in Histoire d'un Crime (The History of a Crime) [written 1852, published 1877]: On résiste à l'invasion des armées; on ne résiste pas à l'invasion des idées. The literal translation is ‘One resists the invasion of armies; one does not resist the invasion of ideas’ or ‘One withstands the invasion of armies; one does not withstand the invasion of ideas’. Alternative translations and paraphrased variants include: No army can stop an idea whose time has come; One cannot resist an idea whose time has come; Nothing is as powerful as an idea whose time has come; There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world, and that is an idea whose time has come.
ABOUT GENIUS OF ELECTRICITYEvelyn Beatrice Longman's 1915 "Genius of Electricity" (originally titled “Electricity”) was commissioned by the AT&T Corporation for the top of their corporate headquarters in downtown Manhattan. It was subsequently renamed ‘Spirit of Communication’ by AT&T and today more often goes by the nickname ‘Golden Boy” due to its golden patina. It weighs over 16 tons and is 24 feet (7.3 m) in height with wings that extend nine feet from the body and is cast in bronze covered with over 40,000 pieces of gold leaf. The statue presently resides in AT&T’s corporate headquarters in downtown Dallas, Texas.
Disclaimer: Inspirationz Inc is not associated with AT&T and AT&T does not endorse Inspirationz Inc’s use of the Longman sculpture in its poster design.