A man of letters, merely by reading a phrase, can estimate exactly the literary merit of its author.
Marcel Proust
Letters, Phrase, Literary Merit, Author Estimate, Reading Insight, Scholarly Judgment
Marcel Proust’s Quotes On Topics
Illusory Dominion | Unexpected Reality | Names | Discrepant Views | Sorrow | Fashion Grace | Current Reality | Court | Price | Inner Perception | Emotional Anchor | Indignant | Unpredictable Art | Intellect | Mysteries | Logical Excuses | Sensory Reserve | Passing Mind | Lingering Thoughts | Truth Avoidance | More
More Marcel Proust Quotes
“As to the pretty girls who went past, from the day on which I had first known that their cheeks could be kissed, I had become curious about their souls. And the Universe had appeared to me more interesting.” Marcel Proust
Curious Souls, Universe, Soul Exploration, Childhood Wonder, Emotional Discovery, Lost Innocence
Marcel Proust Curious Souls, Universe, Soul Exploration, Childhood Wonder, Emotional Discovery, Lost Innocence“I have a horror of sunsets; they’re so romantic, so operatic.” Marcel Proust
Horror, Sunsets, Romantic, Operatic, Overwhelming Beauty, Dramatic Endings
Marcel Proust Horror, Sunsets, Romantic, Operatic, Overwhelming Beauty, Dramatic Endings“He sat there silent, watching their love expire.” Marcel Proust
Silent, Love, Expire, Watching, Quiet Ending, Fading Affection
Marcel Proust Silent, Love, Expire, Watching, Quiet Ending, Fading Affection“For often I have wished to see a person again without realising that it was simply because that person recalled to me a hedge of hawthorns in blossom, and I have been led to believe, and to make someone else believe, in a renewal of affection, by what was no more than an inclination to travel.” Marcel Proust
Person, Affection, Hedge Of Hawthorns, Nostalgic Recall, Misplaced Feelings, Emotional Travel
Marcel Proust Person, Affection, Hedge Of Hawthorns, Nostalgic Recall, Misplaced Feelings, Emotional Travel“A language which we do not know is a fortress sealed.” Marcel Proust
Language, Fortress, Unknown Words, Communication Barrier, Linguistic Discovery, Cultural Isolation
Marcel Proust Language, Fortress, Unknown Words, Communication Barrier, Linguistic Discovery, Cultural Isolation“But when from a long-distant past nothing subsists, after the people are dead, after the things are broken and scattered, taste and smell alone, more fragile but more enduring, more unsubstantial, more persistent, more faithful, remain poised a long time, like souls, remembering, waiting, hoping, amid the ruins of all the rest; and bear unflinchingly, in the tiny and almost impalpable drop of their essence, the vast structure of recollection.” Marcel Proust
Memory, Sensory Connection, Nostalgia, Endurance, Fragile Persistence, Faithful Souls
Marcel Proust Memory, Sensory Connection, Nostalgia, Endurance, Fragile Persistence, Faithful Souls“So long as I know what’s boiling in my pot I don’t bother my head about what’s in other people’s.” Marcel Proust
Personal Focus, Pot Boiling, Self-Centric, Simplicity, Inner World, Contentment
Marcel Proust Personal Focus, Pot Boiling, Self-Centric, Simplicity, Inner World, Contentment“There are optical errors in time as there are in space.” Marcel Proust
Time, Perception, Optical Illusion, Spatial Errors, Temporal Missteps, Visual Discrepancies
Marcel Proust Time, Perception, Optical Illusion, Spatial Errors, Temporal Missteps, Visual Discrepancies“Gardeners produce flowers that are delicious dreams, and others too that are like nightmares.” Marcel Proust
Gardening, Flowers, Dreams, Nightmares, Creative Work, Nature’s Art
Marcel Proust Gardening, Flowers, Dreams, Nightmares, Creative Work, Nature’s Art“Swann could at once detect in this story one of those fragments of literal truth which liars, when taken by surprise, console themselves by introducing into the composition of the falsehood which they have to invent, thinking that it can be safely incorporated, and will lend the whole story an air of verisimilitude.” Marcel Proust
Literal Truth, Falsehood, Verisimilitude, Emotional Lies, Truth Manipulation, Storycrafting
Marcel Proust Literal Truth, Falsehood, Verisimilitude, Emotional Lies, Truth Manipulation, Storycrafting“For theories and schools, like microbes and corpuscles, devour one another and by their strife ensure the continuity of life.” Marcel Proust
Theories, Schools, Strife Continuity, Life’s Growth, Intellectual Evolution, Conceptual Conflict
Marcel Proust Theories, Schools, Strife Continuity, Life’s Growth, Intellectual Evolution, Conceptual Conflict“It is desire that engenders belief; if we fail as a rule to take this into account, it is because most of the desires that create beliefs end only with our own life.” Marcel Proust
Desire, Belief Creation, Enduring Life, Psychological Roots, Emotional Impact, Driven Convictions
Marcel Proust Desire, Belief Creation, Enduring Life, Psychological Roots, Emotional Impact, Driven Convictions“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“Words do not change their meanings so drastically in the course of centuries as, in our minds, names do in the course of a year or two.” Marcel Proust
Words, Meanings, Names, Minds, Temporal Shift, Personal Perception
Marcel Proust Words, Meanings, Names, Minds, Temporal Shift, Personal Perception“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“The character we exhibit in the latter half of our life need not necessarily be, though it often is, our original character, developed further, dried up, exaggerated, or diminished. It can be its exact opposite, like a suit worn inside out.” Marcel Proust
Character, Evolution, Life Stages, Inner Opposite, Suit Metaphor, Identity Shift
Marcel Proust Character, Evolution, Life Stages, Inner Opposite, Suit Metaphor, Identity Shift“I did not wait to hear the end of my father’s story, for I had been with him myself after mass when we had met M. Legrandin; instead, I went downstairs to the kitchen to ask about the menu for our dinner, which was of fresh interest to me daily, like the news in a paper, and excited me as might the programme of a coming festivity.” Marcel Proust
Father, Story, Dinner Menu, Daily Interest, Festive Anticipation, Familial Moments
Marcel Proust Father, Story, Dinner Menu, Daily Interest, Festive Anticipation, Familial Moments“And yet one did not find in the speech of Bergotte a certain luminosity which in his books, as in those of some other writers, often modified in the written phrase the appearance of its words. This was doubtless because that light issues from so profound a depth that its rays do not penetrate to our spoken words in the hours in which, thrown open to others by the act of conversation, we are to a certain extent closed against ourselves.” Marcel Proust
Luminosity, Speech, Profound Depth, Conversational Barrier, Literary Light, Spoken Words
Marcel Proust Luminosity, Speech, Profound Depth, Conversational Barrier, Literary Light, Spoken Words“We are not provided with wisdom, we must discover it for ourselves, after a journey through the wilderness which no one else can take for us, an effort which no one can spare us.” Marcel Proust
Wisdom, Discovery, Personal Journey, Wilderness Effort, Self Realization, Hard-earned Growth
Marcel Proust Wisdom, Discovery, Personal Journey, Wilderness Effort, Self Realization, Hard-earned Growth“To tell the truth, I attached no importance to this possibility of hearing Berma which, a few years earlier, had plunged me in such a state of agitation. And it was not without a sense of melancholy that I realized the fact of my indifference to what at one time I had put before health, comfort, everything.” Marcel Proust
Truth, Indifference, Melancholy Realization, Former Agitation, Life Changes, Lost Importance
Marcel Proust Truth, Indifference, Melancholy Realization, Former Agitation, Life Changes, Lost Importance