It is not because other people are dead that our affection for them grows faint, it is because we ourselves are dying.
Marcel Proust
Affection, Dying, Other People, Faint Connection, Mortal Reflection, Emotional Distance
Marcel Proust’s Quotes On Topics
Fashions | Deliberations | Desire Awakening | Rain | Interest | Emotion | Philosophical Significance | Literary Comparison | Mistake | Reader | Pattern | Unseen Dictation | Dreamlike Reality | Mental Illusion | Unknown Life | Emotional Duality | Sense Hallucination | Generational Reflection | Sensory Experience | Lost Glamour | More
More Marcel Proust Quotes
“Il faudrait choisir de cesser de souffrir ou de cesser d’aimer.” Marcel Proust
Love, Suffering, Emotional Choice, Painful Love, Duality Of Feelings, Personal Struggle
Marcel Proust Love, Suffering, Emotional Choice, Painful Love, Duality Of Feelings, Personal Struggle“But to ask pity of our body is like discoursing in front of an octopus, for which our words can have no more meaning than the sound of the tides, and with which we should be appalled to find ourselves condemned to live.” Marcel Proust
Pity, Body, Octopus Analogy, Meaningless Words, Emotional Isolation, Strange Existence
Marcel Proust Pity, Body, Octopus Analogy, Meaningless Words, Emotional Isolation, Strange Existence“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“A fashionable milieu is one in which each person’s opinion is made up of everyone else’s opinions. Does each opinion run counter to everyone else’s? Then it is a literary milieu.” Marcel Proust
Fashionable, Milieu, Opinions Counter, Literary Circles, Social Dynamics, Collective Thought
Marcel Proust Fashionable, Milieu, Opinions Counter, Literary Circles, Social Dynamics, Collective Thought“A powerful idea communicates some of its strength to him who challenges it.” Marcel Proust
Idea, Strength, Power, Challenge, Conceptual Energy, Intellectual Debate
Marcel Proust Idea, Strength, Power, Challenge, Conceptual Energy, Intellectual Debate“Even in the most insignificant details of our daily life, none of us can be said to constitute a material whole, which is identical for everyone, and need only be turned up like a page in an account-book or the record of a will; our social personality is created by the thoughts of other people.” Marcel Proust
Details, Life, Social Identity, Material Whole, Daily Influence, External Perception
Marcel Proust Details, Life, Social Identity, Material Whole, Daily Influence, External Perception“One must never miss an opportunity of quoting things by others which are always more interesting than those one thinks up oneself.” Marcel Proust
Quoting Others, Intellectual Borrowing, Wisdom Sharing, Self Humility, Thought Influence, Communication Enhancement
Marcel Proust Quoting Others, Intellectual Borrowing, Wisdom Sharing, Self Humility, Thought Influence, Communication Enhancement“My dears, laugh at me if you like; it is not conventionally beautiful, but there is something in its quaint old face which pleases me. If it could play the piano, I am sure it would really play.” Marcel Proust
Quaint Face, Piano, Unconventional Beauty, Personal Pleasures, Sentimental Value, Unique Appeal
Marcel Proust Quaint Face, Piano, Unconventional Beauty, Personal Pleasures, Sentimental Value, Unique Appeal“A woman whom we need and who makes us suffer elicits from us a whole gamut of feelings far more profound and vital than a man of genius who interests us.” Marcel Proust
Woman, Suffering, Feelings, Profound Vitality, Genius, Emotion
Marcel Proust Woman, Suffering, Feelings, Profound Vitality, Genius, Emotion“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“Perfume is that last and best reserve of the past, the one which when all our tears have run dry, can make us cry again.” Marcel Proust
Perfume, Past, Emotional Memory, Sensory Reserve, Tears Recall, Nostalgic Trigger
Marcel Proust Perfume, Past, Emotional Memory, Sensory Reserve, Tears Recall, Nostalgic Trigger“But sometimes the future is latent in us without our knowing it, and our supposedly lying words foreshadow an imminent reality.” Marcel Proust
Future, Latent, Imminent Reality, Subconscious Insights, Predictive Actions, Hidden Awareness
Marcel Proust Future, Latent, Imminent Reality, Subconscious Insights, Predictive Actions, Hidden Awareness“Dreams are not to be converted into reality, that we know; we would not form any, perhaps, were it not for desire, and it is useful to us to form them in order to see them fail and to be instructed by their failure.” Marcel Proust
Dreams, Reality, Desire Formation, Learning Failure, Imaginative Lessons, Inner Aspirations
Marcel Proust Dreams, Reality, Desire Formation, Learning Failure, Imaginative Lessons, Inner Aspirations“Things don’t change, but by and by our wishes change.” Marcel Proust
Unchanging World, Evolving Desires, Emotional Adjustment, Perceptual Shift, Growth Journey, Desire Transformation
Marcel Proust Unchanging World, Evolving Desires, Emotional Adjustment, Perceptual Shift, Growth Journey, Desire Transformation“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“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“To know a thing does not enable us, always, to prevent its happening, but after all the things that we know we do hold, if not in our hands, at any rate in our minds, where we can dispose of them as we choose, which gives us the illusion of a sort of power to control them.” Marcel Proust
Know, Prevent, Hands, Minds, Knowledge Control, Illusory Power
Marcel Proust Know, Prevent, Hands, Minds, Knowledge Control, Illusory Power“Wars are fought for the benefit of oligarchs, triumphs bought with the blood of peons.” Marcel Proust
Wars, Oligarchs, Bloodshed, Triumph Cost, Power, Conflict
Marcel Proust Wars, Oligarchs, Bloodshed, Triumph Cost, Power, Conflict