I knew very well that this hope was chimerical. I was like a pauper who mingles fewer tears with his dry bread if he tells himself that at any moment… - Marcel Proust

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Engraved portrait of Marcel Proust, facing left

I knew very well that this hope was chimerical. I was like a pauper who mingles fewer tears with his dry bread if he tells himself that at any moment a stranger will bequeath to him his fortune. We must all, in order to make reality more tolerable, keep alive in us a few little follies.

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About Marcel Proust

Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust (10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, essayist and critic.

Biography information from Wikiquote · Portrait adapted from Wikimedia Commons, Otto Wegener (Public domain / CC0)

Also Known As

Alternative Names: Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust • Proust • Valentin Louis Georges Eugéne Marcel Proust • Valentin-Louis-Georges-Eugéne-Marcel Proust • Valentin Louis Georges Eugene Marcel Proust • Valentin-Louis-Georges-Eugene-Marcel Proust • Bernard d'Algouvres • Valentin-Louis-Georges-Eugène-Marcel Proust
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Additional quotes by Marcel Proust

The inertia of the mind urges it to slide down the easy slope of imagination, rather than to climb the steep slope of introspection.
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introspection imagination inertia
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But when one believes in the reality of things, making them visible by artificial means is not quite the same as feeling that they are close at hand.
Within a Budding Grove · November 3, 1998 Verified in 1 source Sign up to see the complete provenance
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