I would fall asleep again, and thereafter would reawaken for short snatches only, just long enough to hear the regular creaking of the wainscot, or to open my eyes to stare at the shifting kaleidoscope of the darkness, to savour, in a momentary glimmer of consciousness, the sleep which lay heavy upon the furniture, the room, that whole of which I formed no more than a small part and whose insensibility I should very soon return to share.
Marcel Proust
Short Awakens, Emotional Sensory, Sleep Awareness, Darkness, Memory Impressions, Transient Moments
Marcel Proust’s Quotes On Topics
Physical Bondage | Truth | Subtle Observation | Living | Vaccine | Loss Mediation | Emotional Lies | Habitual Patterns | Beyond Survey | Simple Expression | Momentary Connections | Philosophical Inquiry | Sicknesses | Zenith Glow | Emotional Bonds | Social Fame | Tender Words | Internal Motivation | Limit Exploration | Lies | More
More Marcel Proust Quotes
“In vain the young man gave him details of all his obscenities with his women, M. de Charlus was only struck by how little they amounted to. For that matter that was not only the result of insincerity, for nothing is more limited than vice. In that sense one can really use a common expression and say that one is always turning in the same vicious circle.” Marcel Proust
Vice, Obscenities, Vicious Circle, Limited Nature, Insincerity Details, Moral Reflection
Marcel Proust Vice, Obscenities, Vicious Circle, Limited Nature, Insincerity Details, Moral Reflection“The facts of life do not penetrate to the sphere in which our beliefs are cherished; they did not engender those beliefs, and they are powerless to destroy them; they can inflict on them continual blows of contradiction and disproof without weakening them; and an avalanche of miseries and maladies succeeding one another without interruption in the bosom of a family will not make it lose faith in either the clemency of its God or the capacity of its physician.” Marcel Proust
Facts, Life, Beliefs, Faith, Unshaken Conviction, Emotional Fortitude
Marcel Proust Facts, Life, Beliefs, Faith, Unshaken Conviction, Emotional Fortitude“We shall see later on that the diversity of the forms of death that circulate invisibly is the cause of the peculiar unexpectedness of obituary notices in the newspapers.” Marcel Proust
Death, Obituary, Unexpected Passing, Hidden Causes, Life Fragility, Mortality Awareness
Marcel Proust Death, Obituary, Unexpected Passing, Hidden Causes, Life Fragility, Mortality Awareness“There can be no peace of mind in love, since the advantage one has secured is never anything but a fresh starting-point for future desires.” Marcel Proust
Love, Mind, Peace Lacking, Future Desires, Emotional Restlessness, Passion Drive
Marcel Proust Love, Mind, Peace Lacking, Future Desires, Emotional Restlessness, Passion Drive“A little insomnia is not without its value in making us appreciate sleep, in throwing a ray of light upon that darkness.” Marcel Proust
Insomnia, Sleep, Darkness, Value, Restless Nights, Hidden Appreciation
Marcel Proust Insomnia, Sleep, Darkness, Value, Restless Nights, Hidden Appreciation“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“The artist who gives up an hour of work for an hour of conversation with a friend knows that he is sacrificing a reality for something that does not exist.” Marcel Proust
Artist, Conversation, Sacrifice, Creative Time, Reality Exchange, Lost Potential
Marcel Proust Artist, Conversation, Sacrifice, Creative Time, Reality Exchange, Lost Potential“An hour is not merely an hour, it is a vase full of scents and sounds and projects and climates.” Marcel Proust
Hour, Vase, Time Essence, Scents Sounds, Moment Richness, Temporal Depth
Marcel Proust Hour, Vase, Time Essence, Scents Sounds, Moment Richness, Temporal Depth“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“Saddened by the misfortune of the Jews, remembering his friendship with Christians, increasingly mannered and affected as time went on for reasons to be revealed in due course, he now looked like a pre-Raphaelite worm on to which hairs had been indecently grafted, like threads in the depths of an opal.” Marcel Proust
Misfortune, Jews, Friendship Christians, Pre-Raphaelite Look, Affected Behavior, Historical Reflection
Marcel Proust Misfortune, Jews, Friendship Christians, Pre-Raphaelite Look, Affected Behavior, Historical Reflection“How often is not the prospect of future happiness thus sacrificed to one’s impatient insistence upon an immediate gratification.” Marcel Proust
Happiness, Sacrifice, Future Prospects, Impatient Gratification, Emotional Impulses, Long-term Vision
Marcel Proust Happiness, Sacrifice, Future Prospects, Impatient Gratification, Emotional Impulses, Long-term Vision“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“It is always during a passing state of mind that we make lasting resolutions.” Marcel Proust
Passing Mind, Lasting Resolutions, Emotional Decisions, Momentary Reflection, Instinctive Choices, Inner Conflicts
Marcel Proust Passing Mind, Lasting Resolutions, Emotional Decisions, Momentary Reflection, Instinctive Choices, Inner Conflicts“When Jean and his mother left Etreuilles, Monsieur Sureau had gathered for them great boxfuls of hawthorn and of snowballs which Madame Santeuil had not the courage to refuse. But, as soon as Jean’s uncle had gone home, she threw them away, saying that they already had more than enough in the way of luggage. And then Jean cried because he had been separated from the darling creatures which he would have liked to take with him to Paris, and because of his mother’s naughtiness.” Marcel Proust
Jean, Mother, Hawthorn Snowballs, Emotional Separation, Childhood Loss, Maternal Actions
Marcel Proust Jean, Mother, Hawthorn Snowballs, Emotional Separation, Childhood Loss, Maternal Actions“Each reader reads only what is already within himself. The book is only a sort of optical instrument which the writer offers to the reader to enable the latter to discover in himself what he would not have found but for the aid of the book.” Marcel Proust
Reader, Book, Optical Instrument, Inner Discovery, Written Reflection, Personal Insight
Marcel Proust Reader, Book, Optical Instrument, Inner Discovery, Written Reflection, Personal Insight“The illusions of paternal love are perhaps no less poignant than those of the other kind; many daughters regard their fathers merely as the old men who leave their fortunes to them.” Marcel Proust
Love, Paternal, Poignant Illusions, Daughters Fathers, Familial Bonds, Legacy Misunderstood
Marcel Proust Love, Paternal, Poignant Illusions, Daughters Fathers, Familial Bonds, Legacy Misunderstood“What artists call posterity is the posterity of the work of art.” Marcel Proust
Posterity, Art Legacy, Timeless Work, Enduring Art, Creative Impact, Cultural Memory
Marcel Proust Posterity, Art Legacy, Timeless Work, Enduring Art, Creative Impact, Cultural Memory“The time which we have at our disposal every day is elastic; the passions that we feel expand it, those that we inspire contract it; and habit fills up what remains.” Marcel Proust
Time, Passion, Daily Elasticity, Habit Cycle, Emotional Expansion, Life Rhythm
Marcel Proust Time, Passion, Daily Elasticity, Habit Cycle, Emotional Expansion, Life Rhythm“But sometimes illumination comes to our rescue at the very moment when all seems lost; we have knocked at every door and they open on nothing until, at last, we stumble unconsciously against the only one through which we can enter the kingdom we have sought in vain a hundred years – and it opens.” Marcel Proust
Illumination, Rescue, Unconscious Discovery, Kingdom Entry, Last Hope, Hidden Opportunity
Marcel Proust Illumination, Rescue, Unconscious Discovery, Kingdom Entry, Last Hope, Hidden Opportunity“There is no man, however wise, who has not at some period of his youth said things, or lived in a way the consciousness of which is so unpleasant to him in later life that he would gladly, if he could, expunge it from his memory.” Marcel Proust
Youth, Wisdom, Past Regrets, Unpleasant Memories, Life’s Choices, Self-Reflection
Marcel Proust Youth, Wisdom, Past Regrets, Unpleasant Memories, Life’s Choices, Self-Reflection