--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In previous years, they might have spent…" description: "\"“In previous years, they might have spent hours in the cellar, on their feet, never seeing the time go by nor feeling their legs, and they would go bac..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba2/laurence-coss-32389_books_in-previous-years-they-might-have-spent_295165.jpg" --- # In previous years, they might have spent hours in the… ![“In previous years, they might have spent hours in the cellar, on their feet, never seeing the time go by nor feeling their legs, and they would go back upstairs at closing time enthralled, radiant, a bit drunk, and there were more and more of them who, when they got back to Paris or Basel, would…” quote by Laurence Cossé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba2/laurence-coss-32389_books_in-previous-years-they-might-have-spent_295165.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba2/laurence-coss-32389_books_in-previous-years-they-might-have-spent_295165.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba2/laurence-coss-32389_books_in-previous-years-they-might-have-spent_295165.jpg) > ““In previous years, they might have spent hours in the cellar, on their feet, never seeing the time go by nor feeling their legs, and they would go back upstairs at closing time enthralled, radiant, a bit drunk, and there were more and more of them who, when they got back to Paris or Basel, would tell those around them, 'I only ever buy my books in Meribel now, once a year; obviously I've had to change my suitcase (my car / my leisure time / my life)' . . . .”” [Laurence Cossé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-coss/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People often find that a single, immersive experience can reshape their habits and identity, leading to new rituals and self‑definition. **In simple terms:** A deep experience can change habits and self‑image. Key Takeaway Embrace experiences that reshape you. Themes habit identity ritual transformation Mood reflective nostalgic Type narrative observational When to use this quote - travel - skiing - book buying - life routine - personal growth Key Concepts psychology behavioral change cultural habit Questions to Reflect On - How has a single activity altered your routine? - What rituals sustain lasting change? A Different Perspective Such changes may be fleeting if not integrated into daily life. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Cellar Feet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cellar-feet-2831429/) [Closing time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/closing-time/) [Hours Cellar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hours-cellar-2831427/) [Leisure time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leisure-time/) [Losing time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/losing-time/) [Meribel Year](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meribel-year-2831428/) [Once a year](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/once-a-year/) [Previous years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/previous-years/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Years Spent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years-spent-317182/) ## Related quotes > [Gasoline inventories are tighter than they were a few weeks ago. It's all about perception, because inventories are well above where they have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kyle-cooper/gasoline-inventories-are-tighter-than-they-were-a-few-weeks-ago-it-s/) [Kyle Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kyle-cooper/) > [The Earth forgives the previous year every year.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/the-earth-forgives-the-previous-year-every-year/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [Intentional living is the bridge to significance. At the end of every year, I take time out to reflect and evaluate the events of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-c-maxwell/intentional-living-is-the-bridge-to-significance-at-the-end-of-every/) [John C. Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-c-maxwell/) > [Because after my first year I had a lot of success, took everybody by storm, came back the next year thought it was easy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brett-favre/because-after-my-first-year-i-had-a-lot-of-success-took-everybody-by/) [Brett Favre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brett-favre/) > [Wave after wave of trial rolled over us; but at the end of the year some of us were constrained to confess, that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hudson-taylor/wave-after-wave-of-trial-rolled-over-us-but-at-the-end-of-the-year/) [Hudson Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hudson-taylor/) > [The performances of my works in the last 10 years are probably equal to all the previous years put together. There are so many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlisle-floyd/the-performances-of-my-works-in-the-last-10-years-are-probably-equal/) [Carlisle Floyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlisle-floyd/) > [You learn that you can't take what's happened in the previous years for granted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-smalling/you-learn-that-you-can-t-take-what-s-happened-in-the-previous-years/) [Chris Smalling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-smalling/) > [We had started the tour hoping to make about 200 pounds each as the All Blacks (All Golds) had done the previous year. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dally-messenger/we-had-started-the-tour-hoping-to-make-about-200-pounds-each-as-the/) [Dally Messenger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dally-messenger/) > [I don't want to take anything away from Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle. 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In the years since 1989,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-tsipras/the-experience-of-previous-years-leads-to-one-conclusion-there-is-one/) [Alexis Tsipras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-tsipras/) > [On a ruinous wall I came upon a poster dating from the previous year and announcing that ‘six handsome bulls’ would be killed in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/on-a-ruinous-wall-i-came-upon-a-poster-dating-from-the-previous-year/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [In previous years I was so fired up at times I made little mistakes. So I kept telling myself to be patient, relax, play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-cunningham/in-previous-years-i-was-so-fired-up-at-times-i-made-little-mistakes/) [Randall Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-cunningham/) > [I think the secret is to understand that you still want to be part of the game. To do so, you have to forget…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valentino-rossi/i-think-the-secret-is-to-understand-that-you-still-want-to-be-part-of/) [Valentino Rossi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valentino-rossi/) ## More by Laurence Cossé > [“We want books that are written for those of us who doubt everything, who cry over the least little thing, who are startled by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-coss/we-want-books-that-are-written-for-those-of-us-who-doubt-everything/) [Laurence Cossé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-coss/) > [“Van, The Good Novel will not be an ordinary bookstore. That's our challenge. Our customers won't be ordinary customers. The people we'll see in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-coss/van-the-good-novel-will-not-be-an-ordinary-bookstore-that-s-our/) [Laurence Cossé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-coss/) > [“Her strength, she would tell Van much later on, was nothing more nor less than the hope of, at last, attaining that goal which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-coss/her-strength-she-would-tell-van-much-later-on-was-nothing-more-nor/) [Laurence Cossé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-coss/) > [“We want splendid books ... books that prove to us that love is at work in the world next to evil, right up against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-coss/we-want-splendid-books-books-that-prove-to-us-that-love-is-at-work-in/) [Laurence Cossé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-coss/) > [“There is nothing more difficult to master than repetition. If you do it badly, it's clumsy, stupid. 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We want books that cost their authors…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-coss/we-have-no-time-to-waste-on-insignificant-books-hollow-books-books/) [Laurence Cossé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-coss/) > [“Literature is a source of pleasure, he said, it is one of the rare inexhaustible joys in life, but it's not only that. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-coss/literature-is-a-source-of-pleasure-he-said-it-is-one-of-the-rare/) [Laurence Cossé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-coss/) > [“We want splendid books, books that immerse us in the splendor of reality and keep us there; books that prove to us that love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-coss/we-want-splendid-books-books-that-immerse-us-in-the-splendor-of/) [Laurence Cossé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-coss/) > [“I don't believe for a minute that the proof of God's existence is achieved. My faith prohibits me from believing that the proof of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-coss/i-don-t-believe-for-a-minute-that-the-proof-of-god-s-existence-is/) [Laurence Cossé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-coss/) > [“And when I think there are people around me who complain they can't find anything good to read. What nonsense ... every month you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-coss/and-when-i-think-there-are-people-around-me-who-complain-they-can-t/) [Laurence Cossé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-coss/) [Explore all 15 Laurence Cossé quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-coss/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! 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Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) [Markus Herz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-herz/) > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“In previous years, they might have spent hours in the cellar, on their feet, never seeing the time go by nor feeling their legs, and they would go back upstairs at closing time enthralled, radiant, a bit drunk, and there were more and more of them who, when they got back to Paris or Basel, would tell those around them, 'I only ever buy my books in Meribel now, once a year; obviously I've had to change my suitcase (my car / my leisure time / my life)' . . . .”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Laurence Cossé" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-coss/in-previous-years-they-might-have-spent-hours-in-the-cellar-on-their/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-coss/in-previous-years-they-might-have-spent-hours-in-the-cellar-on-their/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba2/laurence-coss-32389_books_in-previous-years-they-might-have-spent_295165.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba2/laurence-coss-32389_books_in-previous-years-they-might-have-spent_295165.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba2/laurence-coss-32389_books_in-previous-years-they-might-have-spent_295165.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In previous years, they might have spent hours in the cellar, on their feet, never seeing the time go by nor…” — Laurence Cossé", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Laurence Cossé", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-coss/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“In previous years, they might have...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-coss/in-previous-years-they-might-have-spent-hours-in-the-cellar-on-their/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-coss/in-previous-years-they-might-have-spent-hours-in-the-cellar-on-their/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```