--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A work in which there are theories is…" description: "\"“A work in which there are theories is like an object which still has its price-tag on.”\" — Marcel Proust" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66d/marcel-proust-114_art_a-work-in-which-there-are-theories-is-li_2233250.jpg" --- # A work in which there are theories is like an object which… ![“A work in which there are theories is like an object which still has its price-tag on.” quote by Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66d/marcel-proust-114_art_a-work-in-which-there-are-theories-is-li_2233250.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66d/marcel-proust-114_art_a-work-in-which-there-are-theories-is-li_2233250.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66d/marcel-proust-114_art_a-work-in-which-there-are-theories-is-li_2233250.jpg) > ““A work in which there are theories is like an object which still has its price-tag on.”” [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Theories are like priced objects—still for sale. **In simple terms:** Theories remain untested. Key Takeaway Question unproven ideas. Themes literature philosophy economics Mood analytical skeptical Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - academic research - creative writing - critical analysis Key Concepts theory valuation knowledge Questions to Reflect On - How do you test a theory? - When is speculation acceptable? A Different Perspective Theory without evidence lacks credibility. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Price tag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/price-tag/) [Theories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theories/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [A work of art that contains theories is like an object on which the price tag has been left.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/a-work-of-art-that-contains-theories-is-like-an-object-on-which-the/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [A work in which there are theories is like an object which still has the ticket that shows its price.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/a-work-in-which-there-are-theories-is-like-an-object-which-still-has-2/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [We can invent as many theories we like, and any one of them can be made to fit the facts. But that theory is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/we-can-invent-as-many-theories-we-like-and-any-one-of-them-can-be/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Theories are like scaffolding: they are not the house, but you cannot build the house without them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/constance-fenimore-woolson/theories-are-like-scaffolding-they-are-not-the-house-but-you-cannot/) [Constance Fenimore Woolson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/constance-fenimore-woolson/) > [Theories are like patches on a coat, one day they just wear off.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sogyal-rinpoche/theories-are-like-patches-on-a-coat-one-day-they-just-wear-off/) [Sogyal Rinpoche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sogyal-rinpoche/) > [I usually allocate time each week to work on topics outside of the normal workflow. 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Those who dont,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/every-dream-has-a-process-and-a-price-tag-those-who-embrace-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I’m not sure how the ponies happened, though I have an inkling: “Can I get you anything?” I’ll say, getting up from a dinner…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sloane-crosley/i-m-not-sure-how-the-ponies-happened-though-i-have-an-inkling-can-i/) [Sloane Crosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sloane-crosley/) ## More by Marcel Proust > [“machinery' of life at Versailles; and was able, too, to persuade herself that her silence, a shade of good humour or of arrogance on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/machinery-of-life-at-versailles-and-was-able-too-to-persuade-herself/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [ “For her \[Françoise\], wealth was like a necessary condition without which virtue would lack both merit and charm. She made so little distinction between… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/for-her-fran-oise-wealth-was-like-a-necessary-condition-without-which/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Knowing does not always allow us to prevent, but at least the things that we know, we hold them, if not in our hands,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/knowing-does-not-always-allow-us-to-prevent-but-at-least-the-things/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Death is in truth an illness from which we recover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/death-is-in-truth-an-illness-from-which-we-recover/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [The bonds that unite another person to our self exist only in our mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/the-bonds-that-unite-another-person-to-our-self-exist-only-in-our-mind/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [...a writer's works, like the water in an artesian well, mount to a height which is in proportion to the depth to which suffering…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/a-writer-s-works-like-the-water-in-an-artesian-well-mount-to-a-height/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“Then from those profound slumbers we awake in a dawn, not knowing who we are, being nobody, newly born, ready for anything, the brain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/then-from-those-profound-slumbers-we-awake-in-a-dawn-not-knowing-who/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“Art extracted from the most familiar reality does indeed exist and its domain is perhaps the largest of any.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/art-extracted-from-the-most-familiar-reality-does-indeed-exist-and/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [I find very reasonable the Celtic belief that the souls of our dearly departed are trapped in some inferior being, in an animal, aplant,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/i-find-very-reasonable-the-celtic-belief-that-the-souls-of-our-dearly/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“When you heard anyone in the middle of a talk which was being deliberately kept off the Affair announce furtively some piece of political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/when-you-heard-anyone-in-the-middle-of-a-talk-which-was-being/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“We betroth ourselves by proxy, and then feel obliged to marry the intermediary.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/we-betroth-ourselves-by-proxy-and-then-feel-obliged-to-marry-the/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“But the old lady on the contrary, far from justifying her daughter’s fears, felt every time someone of her own age “disappeared” that she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/but-the-old-lady-on-the-contrary-far-from-justifying-her-daughter-s/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Often it is just lack of imagination that keeps a man from suffering very much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/often-it-is-just-lack-of-imagination-that-keeps-a-man-from-suffering/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“When we are nice to others, we generally lose all claim to their respect.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/when-we-are-nice-to-others-we-generally-lose-all-claim-to-their/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“Nobility is often no more than the inner aspect which our egotistical feelings assume when we have not yet named and classified them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/nobility-is-often-no-more-than-the-inner-aspect-which-our-egotistical/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) [Explore all 1,113 Marcel Proust quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. 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You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“A work in which there are theories is like an object which still has its price-tag on.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Marcel Proust" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/a-work-in-which-there-are-theories-is-like-an-object-which-still-has/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/a-work-in-which-there-are-theories-is-like-an-object-which-still-has/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66d/marcel-proust-114_art_a-work-in-which-there-are-theories-is-li_2233250.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66d/marcel-proust-114_art_a-work-in-which-there-are-theories-is-li_2233250.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66d/marcel-proust-114_art_a-work-in-which-there-are-theories-is-li_2233250.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A work in which there are theories is like an object which still has its price-tag on.” — Marcel Proust", "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": "Marcel Proust", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“A work in which there are...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/a-work-in-which-there-are-theories-is-like-an-object-which-still-has/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/a-work-in-which-there-are-theories-is-like-an-object-which-still-has/#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 } } ] } ```