"Brushing one's teeth is at the top of a ladder at whose bottom is the loss of one's soul."

I can hardly contain my laughter. This phrase from "Les Miserables" just made my day. It doesn't matter how many times I read this sentence, it just makes me laugh! Hmmm...perhaps then I can feel a bit less guilty about the time I was too sleepy to brush my teeth before bed. Still laughing here.

And, as a side note, I am typing this while listening to the chapter after the one in which this quote occured, and...causing me to laugh even more...in my half conscious listening I heard the volunteer read the word "lugubrious". I am sure that Victor Hugo had not intended his 5 volume masterpiece to be a work of humor or comedy, but it sure does give me a lot to laugh about while doing dishes and folding laundry. The worst part is that a good deal of my laughter follows the word "lugubrious" which is supposed to bring to mind something sad. Ah, Mr. Hugo, how can I ever thank you for the hours of amusement!

Oh, and just in case you haven't the time to research the context of the quote above, it is in a description of a particular convent in Paris where the nuns all have yellow teeth because brushing one's teeth is apparently very vain. :) Still laughing. It might be a full week before I can keep a straight face.