A book is like a large cemetery upon whose tombs one can no longer read the effaced names. On the other hand, sometimes one remembers well the name, without knowing if anything of the being, whose name it was, survives in these pages.
Marcel Proust
Book, Cemetery, Effaced Names, Remembered Identity, Forgotten Stories, Literary Immortality
Marcel Proust’s Quotes On Topics
Unpleasant Memories | Younger | Instinctive Choices | Intellectual Liberty | Short Awakens | Personal Laziness | Intellectual Thirst | Photographs | Nostalgic Transition | Tender Speeches | Evil Spirits | Become | Nostalgic Recall | Obituary | Foreign | Physical Connection | Emotional Choices | Ego | Personal Insight | Writing Philosophy | More
More Marcel Proust Quotes
“A little tap on the window pane, as though something had struck it, followed by a plentiful light falling sound, as of grains of sand being sprinkled from a window overhead, gradually spreading, intensifying, acquiring a regular rhythm, becoming fluid, sonorous, musical, immeasurable, universal: it was the rain.” Marcel Proust
Rain, Window, Musical Rhythm, Universal Sound, Natural Beauty, Emotional Connection
Marcel Proust Rain, Window, Musical Rhythm, Universal Sound, Natural Beauty, Emotional Connection“When a man is asleep, he has in a circle round him the chain of the hours, the sequence of the years, the order of the heavenly host.” Marcel Proust
Asleep, Circle, Hours, Years, Dreaming Timelines, Cosmic Patterns
Marcel Proust Asleep, Circle, Hours, Years, Dreaming Timelines, Cosmic Patterns“Pleasure in this respect is like photography. What we take, in the presence of the beloved object, is merely a negative film; we develop it later, when we are at home, and have once again found at our disposal that inner darkroom, the entrance to which is barred to us so long as we are with other people.” Marcel Proust
Pleasure, Photography Metaphor, Negative Film, Inner Darkroom, Emotional Capture, Beloved Memory
Marcel Proust Pleasure, Photography Metaphor, Negative Film, Inner Darkroom, Emotional Capture, Beloved Memory“Like a kaleidoscope which is every now and then given a turn, society arranges successively in different orders elements which one would have supposed immutable, and composes a new pattern.” Marcel Proust
Kaleidoscope, Society, Elements, Pattern, Social Change, Shifting Orders
Marcel Proust Kaleidoscope, Society, Elements, Pattern, Social Change, Shifting Orders“I never allow myself to be influenced in the smallest degree either by atmospheric disturbances or by the arbitrary divisions of what is known as Time.” Marcel Proust
Time, Influence, Disturbances, Mind, Personal Independence, Steadfast Focus
Marcel Proust Time, Influence, Disturbances, Mind, Personal Independence, Steadfast Focus“All our final decisions are made in a state of mind that is not going to last.” Marcel Proust
Decisions, Final, Mind, Last, Temporary State, Fleeting Judgment
Marcel Proust Decisions, Final, Mind, Last, Temporary State, Fleeting Judgment“We think and name in one world, we live and feel in another.” Marcel Proust
Think, Name, Live, Feel, Divided Worlds, Emotional Reality
Marcel Proust Think, Name, Live, Feel, Divided Worlds, Emotional Reality“We become moral when we are unhappy.” Marcel Proust
Moral, Unhappy, Become, We, Emotional Ethics, Reflective Growth
Marcel Proust Moral, Unhappy, Become, We, Emotional Ethics, Reflective Growth“When one feels oneself smitten by love for a woman, one ought to say to oneself, ‘What are ‘her surroundings? What has been her life?’ All one’s future happiness lies in the answer.” Marcel Proust
Love, Woman’s Life, Surroundings Question, Future Happiness, Emotional Depth, Reflective Love
Marcel Proust Love, Woman’s Life, Surroundings Question, Future Happiness, Emotional Depth, Reflective Love“We accept so many commitments in regard to life that a time comes when, despairing of ever managing to fulfill them all, we face the graves, we call upon death, “death, which brings help to destinies that have trouble coming true.” But while death may exempt us from commitments we have made in regard to life, it cannot exempt us from our commitments to ourselves, especially the most important one: namely, the commitment to live in order to be worthy and deserving.” Marcel Proust
Commitments, Life, Despair Exemption, Self Obligations, Worthy Existence, Fulfillment Struggles
Marcel Proust Commitments, Life, Despair Exemption, Self Obligations, Worthy Existence, Fulfillment Struggles“He stood gazing at her; traces of the old fresco were apparent in her face and limbs, and these he tried incessantly, afterwards, to recapture, both when he was with Odette, and when he was only thinking of her in her absence; and, albeit his admiration for the Florentine masterpiece was probably based upon his discovery that it had been reproduced in her, the similarity enhanced her beauty also, and rendered her more precious in his sight.” Marcel Proust
Admiration, Beauty, Florentine Masterpiece, Old Fresco, Precious Memory, Artistic Vision
Marcel Proust Admiration, Beauty, Florentine Masterpiece, Old Fresco, Precious Memory, Artistic Vision“Memory nourishes the heart, and grief abates.” Marcel Proust
Memory, Heart, Grief, Abates, Emotional Nourishment, Healing Time
Marcel Proust Memory, Heart, Grief, Abates, Emotional Nourishment, Healing Time“You can’t learn the truth about a man’s intentions by asking him.” Marcel Proust
Truth, Intentions, Man, Learning, Emotional Depth, Hidden Motives
Marcel Proust Truth, Intentions, Man, Learning, Emotional Depth, Hidden Motives“The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” Marcel Proust
Discovery, New Eyes, Fresh Perspectives, Inner Vision, Transformative Journey, Expanded Viewpoint
Marcel Proust Discovery, New Eyes, Fresh Perspectives, Inner Vision, Transformative Journey, Expanded Viewpoint“But the presence of Odette continued to sow in Swann’s heart alternate seeds of love and suspicion.” Marcel Proust
Love, Suspicion, Heart, Seeds, Emotional Conflict, Mixed Feelings
Marcel Proust Love, Suspicion, Heart, Seeds, Emotional Conflict, Mixed Feelings“When two people part it is the one who is not in love who makes the tender speeches.” Marcel Proust
Parting Emotions, Tender Speeches, Unrequited Love, Emotional Separation, Tenderness Contrast, Relational Divide
Marcel Proust Parting Emotions, Tender Speeches, Unrequited Love, Emotional Separation, Tenderness Contrast, Relational Divide“To determine not to think of it was but to think of it still, to suffer from it still.” Marcel Proust
Think, Suffer, Determine, Still, Unending Thoughts, Emotional Loop
Marcel Proust Think, Suffer, Determine, Still, Unending Thoughts, Emotional Loop“A sort of egotistical self-evaluation is unavoidable in those joys in which erudition and art mingle and in which aesthetic pleasure may become more acute, but not remain as pure.” Marcel Proust
Art, Aesthetic Joy, Egotistical Reflection, Erudition Mingle, Impure Pleasure, Self-Evaluation
Marcel Proust Art, Aesthetic Joy, Egotistical Reflection, Erudition Mingle, Impure Pleasure, Self-Evaluation“I thought nothing at all, but I felt an immense sadness, as when two parts of one’s past existence, which have been anchored near to one, and upon which one has perhaps been basing idly from day to day an unacknowledged hope, remove themselves finally, with a joyous flapping of pennants, for unknown destinations, like a pair of ships.” Marcel Proust
Sadness, Ships, Unacknowledged Hope, Departing Dreams, Emotional Detachment, Past Memories
Marcel Proust Sadness, Ships, Unacknowledged Hope, Departing Dreams, Emotional Detachment, Past Memories