"Nature has made a pebble and a female. The lapidary makes the diamond, and the lover makes the woman"

Victor Hugo's quote is a metaphor for the power of love. He is recommending that, just as a lapidary can take a pebble and turn it into a diamond, an enthusiast can take a lady and turn her into something stunning and valuable. Nature has offered us the raw materials, however it depends on us to shape them into something extraordinary. Hugo is highlighting the transformative power of love, and how it can take something ordinary and make it extraordinary. He is also suggesting that love is a skill that must be cultivated and nurtured in order to highlight the best in someone. Love is not something that can be taken for approved, but rather something that must be dealt with and developed in order to draw out the very best in somebody.