Saturday, September 15, 2007

Proust on Love

"Like everybody who is not in love, he thought one chose the person to be loved after endless deliberations and on the basis of particular qualities or advantages."


- Marcel Proust

10 comments:

Ashwin said...

Can't attest to its veracity, but it sounds smart.

Anonymous said...

lol, so true.

When I hear those e-harmony ads about the many dimensions of compatibility, I always kinda roll my eyes.

Great if those people find contentment and companionship, but what will happen when one of them falls head over heels for a rock-star?

shane said...

nice quote. proust is full of jewels like this.
cool blog. i'll be sure to check back in.

spot on about the e-harmony ads, btw.

Anonymous said...

Its funny that you seem to be able to say why you like or love someone but those qualities don't really distinguish them from all the other people. She makes me laugh...well, so do lots of people.

Some sort of odd constellation or shared pattern conjoins you and then you come up with the reasons why. I've always that this applies to many other things like diet. I find out what I like to eat and then come up with reasons as to why its good for me. This is why everyone gets so happy with every report that coffee is good for you or a couple of drinks a day.

Anonymous said...

My favorite Proust Quote:


"We don't receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us."

-Marcel Proust

Paul Sunstone said...

Hi Musafir! It sounds to me like Proust is speaking from experience. All the Great Loves of my life have had no rhyme nor reason why I loved who I loved.

That's a striking insight about eharmony, Amuirin!

Hi Shane! Welcome to the blog. I'm very glad you like it.

Hi AOS! I think you're right. I seem to recall that Krishnamurti used to say our thoughts are merely commentaries on our experiences.

That's a great quote, Enreal! And I think it's very true.

Unknown said...

I've never yet personally observed nor experienced an irrational or inexplicable love that didn't turn out to be composed of equal parts delusion, projection, hope, and vanity... and which didn't crumble painfully once the novelty of it ignominiously expired. But perhaps Proust and I are not moving in the same circles?

I am nothing if not completely unromantic ... and yet, I do quite firmly believe that the head-over-heels attraction is far more revelatory of the self than it is a genuine emotional response to the other person involved. I think that is why opposites attract, but seldom last.

Anonymous said...

Am I right in remembering that I put Enreal and you in touch by commenting on your blogs about the similarity of one of your posts? :-)

Paul Sunstone said...

Those are some very interesting comments, David. Do you think there are different kinds of love?

Paul Sunstone said...

I think you remember right, Mahendra! I need to thank you for that. Reading Enreal's poetry has given me great pleasure!