Marcel Proust, a French novelist and essayist, is celebrated for his profound observations on human nature, memory, and the intricate nuances of life.
His monumental work, “In Search of Lost Time,” delves into the labyrinth of memory, exploring the profound impact of involuntary memories on our understanding of the past.
Within his writings, Proust leaves behind a treasure trove of timeless quotes illuminating the complexities of human existence.
You will find some of Marcel Proust quotes on this page, which we hope you will enjoy reading.
Marcel Proust Quotes on Time and Memory
A selection of the sayings and quotes of Marcel Proust on time and memory.
“Time, which sees all things, has found you out.”
“The only true voyage of discovery, the only fountain of Eternal Youth, would be not to visit strange lands but to possess other eyes, to behold the universe through the eyes of another, of a hundred others, to behold the hundred universes that each of them beholds, that each of them is.”
“Remembrance of things past is not necessarily the remembrance of things as they were.”
“We are able to find everything in our memory, which is like a dispensary or chemical laboratory in which chance steers our hand sometimes to a soothing drug and sometimes to a dangerous poison.”
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”
“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”
“The only paradise is paradise lost.”
“We are healed of a suffering only by experiencing it in full.”
“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.”
“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.”
“Even though our lives wander, our memories remain in one place.”
“If we are to make reality endurable, we must all nourish a fantasy or two.”
Marcel Proust Quotes on Love and Relationships
In these quotes, Marcel Proust talks about love and relationships.
“Love is not vain because it is frustrated, but because it is fulfilled.”
“Love is a striking example of how little reality means to us.”
“In his younger days a man dreams of possessing the heart of the woman whom he loves; later, the feeling that he possesses the heart of a woman may be enough to make him fall in love with her.”
“Love is space and time measured by the heart.
“One cannot change, that is to say become a different person, while continuing to acquiesce to the feelings of the person one has ceased to be.”
You might like reading our quotes on love.
“The greatest work of art is to love someone.”
“The bonds that unite us to another human being are sanctified when he or she adopts the same point of view as ourselves in judging one of our imperfections.
“We are healed from suffering only by experiencing it to the full.”
“We are all of us obliged, if we are to make reality endurable, to nurse a few little follies in ourselves.”
“A pair of powerful spectacles has sometimes sufficed to cure a person in love.”
Marcel Proust Quotes on Life’s Journey and Experience
“Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”
“People wish to learn to swim and at the same time to keep one foot on the ground.”
“We don’t receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us.”
“Every reader finds himself. The writer’s work is merely a kind of optical instrument that makes it possible for the reader to discern what, without this book, he would perhaps never have seen in himself.”
“Happiness is beneficial for the body, but it is grief that develops the powers of the mind.”
“If a little dreaming is dangerous, the cure for it is not to dream less, but to dream more, to dream all the time.”
“Reading is that fruitful miracle of a communication in the midst of solitude.”
“Do not wait for life. Do not long for it. Be aware, always and at every moment, that the miracle is in the here and now.”
“Our desires cut across one another, and in this confused existence it is rare for happiness to coincide with the desire that clamoured for it.”
“Things don’t change, but by and by our wishes change.
“The bonds that unite another person to our self exist only in our mind.
“An hour is not merely an hour, it is a vase full of scents and sounds and projects and climates.
“It is often hard to bear the tears that we ourselves have caused.
Concluding Words on Marcel Proust Quotes
The words of Marcel Proust words resonate across the ages, inviting us to ponder the timeless themes of time, love, life, art, and wisdom.
Through these quotes, we can embark on a journey of self-discovery and reflection, guided by his profound insights.
Proust’s ability to distill the essence of human experience into eloquent phrases serves as a testament to the enduring power of literature to illuminate the depths of our existence.
Quotes Directory >> Marcel Proust Quotes