For everyone who, having no artistic sense-that is to say, no submission to subjective reality-may have the knack of reasoning about art till doomsday, especially if he be, in addition, a diplomat or financier in contact with the ‘realities’ of the present day, is only too ready to believe literature is an intellectual game which is destined to gradually be abandoned as time goes on.
Marcel Proust
Art, Subjective Reality, Literature, Diplomats, Philosophy, Intellectual Game
Marcel Proust’s Quotes On Topics
Quiet Presence | Dark Times | Public Facade | Regime | Mind Flow | Progressing Road | Relaxation | Behavioral Reflection | Emotional Gaps | Comprehension | Flesh Blood | Unhappiness | Inevitable Ending | Creative Void | Fixated Reality | Sleep Awareness | Idealized Perception | Moral Clarity | Temporal Perception | Sentimental Value | More
More Marcel Proust Quotes
“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“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“That girl whom I never saw save dappled with the shadows of their leaves, was to me herself a plant of local growth, only taller than the rest, and one whose structure would enable me to approach more closely than in them to the intimate savour of the land from which she had sprung.” Marcel Proust
Girl, Shadows, Plant Metaphor, Local Growth, Land Savour, Intimate Essence
Marcel Proust Girl, Shadows, Plant Metaphor, Local Growth, Land Savour, Intimate Essence“In most women’s lives, everything, even the greatest sorrow, comes down to a question of ‘I haven’t got a thing to wear’.” Marcel Proust
Women, Sorrow, Fashion Dilemmas, Daily Life, Humor, Priorities
Marcel Proust Women, Sorrow, Fashion Dilemmas, Daily Life, Humor, Priorities“The stellar universe is not so difficult of comprehension as the real actions of other people.” Marcel Proust
Universe, Comprehension, Human Actions, Stellar Thoughts, Complexity, Perception
Marcel Proust Universe, Comprehension, Human Actions, Stellar Thoughts, Complexity, Perception“Her memory was a burning pillow which she kept turning and turning.” Marcel Proust
Memory, Burning, Pillow, Turning, Emotional Restlessness, Haunting Thoughts
Marcel Proust Memory, Burning, Pillow, Turning, Emotional Restlessness, Haunting Thoughts“The particulars of life do not matter to the artist; they merely provide him with the opportunity to lay bare his genius.” Marcel Proust
Life, Artist, Genius, Inspiration, Artistic Expression, Creative Process
Marcel Proust Life, Artist, Genius, Inspiration, Artistic Expression, Creative Process“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“The social leaders who refuse to allow politics into society are as foreseeing as the soldiers who refuse to allow politics to permeate the army. Society is like the sexual appetite; one does not know at what forms of perversion it may not arrive, once we have allowed our choice to be dictated by aesthetic considerations.” Marcel Proust
Leaders, Politics, Society, Appetite, Social Perversion, Aesthetic Control
Marcel Proust Leaders, Politics, Society, Appetite, Social Perversion, Aesthetic Control“The bonds between ourselves and another person exists only in our minds. Memory as it grows fainter loosens them, and notwithstanding the illusion by which we want to be duped and which, out of love, friendship, politeness, deference, duty, we dupe other people, we exist alone. Man is the creature who cannot escape from himself, who knows other people only in himself, and when he asserts the contrary, he is lying.” Marcel Proust
Emotional Bonds, Solitude, Memory Fading, Self Reflection, Illusion Of Connection, Emotional Solitude
Marcel Proust Emotional Bonds, Solitude, Memory Fading, Self Reflection, Illusion Of Connection, Emotional Solitude“Even his mother, his own mother, had once accused him of being a snob.” Marcel Proust
Snobbery, Accusation, Family Tension, Mother’s Disapproval, Social Judgment, Personal Flaws
Marcel Proust Snobbery, Accusation, Family Tension, Mother’s Disapproval, Social Judgment, Personal Flaws“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“But what revealed to me all of a sudden the Princess’s love was a trifling incident upon which I shall not dwell here, for it forms part of quite another story, in which M. de Charlus allowed a Queen to die rather than miss an appointment with the hairdresser who was to singe his hair for the benefit of an omnibus conductor who filled him with alarm.” Marcel Proust
Love, Trifling Incident, Hidden Affections, Dramatic Irony, Social Eccentricities, Story Intrigue
Marcel Proust Love, Trifling Incident, Hidden Affections, Dramatic Irony, Social Eccentricities, Story Intrigue“You’re as strong as the Pont Neuf. You’ll live to bury us all!” Marcel Proust
Strong, Pont Neuf, Enduring Spirit, Lasting Legacy, Resilient Strength, Timeless Stability
Marcel Proust Strong, Pont Neuf, Enduring Spirit, Lasting Legacy, Resilient Strength, Timeless Stability“It is always thus, impelled by a state of mind which is destined not to last, we make our irrevocable decisions.” Marcel Proust
Mind, Decisions, State, Last, Fleeting Impulses, Emotional Choices
Marcel Proust Mind, Decisions, State, Last, Fleeting Impulses, Emotional Choices“Sometimes it would even happen that this precocious hour would sound two strokes more than the last; there must then have been an hour which I had not heard strike; something which had taken place had not taken place for me; the fascination of my book, a magic as potent as the deepest slumber, had stopped my enchanted ears and had obliterated the sound of that golden bell from the azure surface of the enveloping silence.” Marcel Proust
Hour, Strokes, Golden Bell, Fascinating Book, Deep Slumber, Lost Time
Marcel Proust Hour, Strokes, Golden Bell, Fascinating Book, Deep Slumber, Lost Time“I do find it absurd that a man of his intelligence should suffer over a person of that sort, who isn’t even interesting – because they say she’s an idiot,” she added with the wisdom of people not in love who believe a man of sense should be unhappy only over a person who is worth it; which is rather like being surprised that anyone should condescend to suffer from cholera because of so small a creature as the comma bacillus.” Marcel Proust
Absurd, Suffer, Intelligence, Worth, Unworthy Affliction, Misplaced Grief
Marcel Proust Absurd, Suffer, Intelligence, Worth, Unworthy Affliction, Misplaced Grief“The fixity of a habit is generally in direct proportion to its absurdity.” Marcel Proust
Habit, Fixity, Direct Proportion, Habit Formation, Behavioral Patterns, Routine Absurdity
Marcel Proust Habit, Fixity, Direct Proportion, Habit Formation, Behavioral Patterns, Routine Absurdity“Lying is essential to humanity. It plays as large a part perhaps as the quest for pleasure, and is moreover governed by that quest. One lies in order to protect one’s pleasure, or one’s honour if the disclosure of one’s pleasure runs counter to one’s honour. One lies all one’s life long, even, especially, perhaps only, to those who love one. For they alone make us fear for our pleasure and desire their esteem.” Marcel Proust
Lying, Humanity, Pleasure, Honour, Emotional Mask, Protective Falsehood
Marcel Proust Lying, Humanity, Pleasure, Honour, Emotional Mask, Protective Falsehood