1,085 Quotes by Marcel Proust

And even before my brain, lingering in consideration of when things had happened and of what they had looked like, had sufficient impressions to enable it to identify the room, it, my body, would recall from each room in succession what the bed was like, where the doors were, how daylight came in at the windows, whether there was a passage outside, what I had had in my mind when I went to sleep, and had found there when I awoke.

Unfortunately the next day was not the vast, extraneous expanse of time which I had feverishly looked forward. When it drew to a close my laziness and my painful struggle to overcome internal obstacles had simply lasted twenty-four hours longer.

čovek je stvorenje koje ne može da izađe izvan sebe, koje poznaje druge samo u sebi i koji laže ako tvrdi suprotno.

Happiness is beneficial for the body, but it is grief that develops the powers of the mind.

Aunt Léonie who, after the death of her husband, my Uncle Octave, no longer wished to leave, first Combray, then within Combray her house, then her bedroom, then her bed and no longer 'came down', always lying in an uncertain state of grief, physical debility, illness, obsession and piety.

… timpul meu nu-i chiar atît de prețios; cel care l-a făcut, nu ni l-a vîndut.

She was capable of causing me pain, but no longer any joy. Pain alone kept my wearisome attachment alive.

Een warme gezindheid jegens anderen overdrijft het goede even graag, als de kwaadaardigheid er plezier in heeft iemand omlaag te halen.

There are people whose faces assume an unaccustomed beauty and majesty the moment they cease to look out of their eyes.