Although he has often been credited as saying: “Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come,” Victor Hugo was probably not the source of this exact phrase. In his seminal 1877 book, Histoire d’un crime, he says, however: “One can resist the invasion of armies, but one cannot resist the invasion of ideas.” The meaning of both is roughly the same. Ideas can spark movements that have the power to shape the future.
Published: 02 July 2026Last Updated: 02 July 2026