--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And if she had appeared, would I have…" description: "\"“And if she had appeared, would I have dared to speak to her? I felt that she would have regarded me as mad, for I no longer thought of those desires w..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30c/marcel-proust-114_appeared_and-if-she-had-appeared-would-i-have-dar_42539.jpg" --- # And if she had appeared, would I have dared to speak to… ![“And if she had appeared, would I have dared to speak to her? I felt that she would have regarded me as mad, for I no longer thought of those desires which came to me on my walks, but were never realized, as being shared by others, or as having any existence apart from myself.” quote by Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30c/marcel-proust-114_appeared_and-if-she-had-appeared-would-i-have-dar_42539.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30c/marcel-proust-114_appeared_and-if-she-had-appeared-would-i-have-dar_42539.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30c/marcel-proust-114_appeared_and-if-she-had-appeared-would-i-have-dar_42539.jpg) > ““And if she had appeared, would I have dared to speak to her? I felt that she would have regarded me as mad, for I no longer thought of those desires which came to me on my walks, but were never realized, as being shared by others, or as having any existence apart from myself.”” [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. The narrator doubts his own sanity and fears being judged as irrational for private, unfulfilled desires that feel isolated from others. **In simple terms:** Fear of judgment over unexpressed longing Key Takeaway Unshared desires feel alienated Themes Isolation Self-doubt Desire Perception Authenticity Mood melancholic introspective Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - confessing secret love - reflecting on personal fantasies - confronting social expectations Key Concepts Subjectivity Social stigma Inner life Practical Applications - literary analysis - psychological counseling Questions to Reflect On - What does it mean to keep desires private? - How does fear of judgment shape self-expression? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Appeared](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/appeared/) [Appeared Dared](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/appeared-dared-460529/) [Felt Regarded](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/felt-regarded-460526/) [Regarded Mad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/regarded-mad-460527/) [Thought Desires](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought-desires-460528/) ## Related quotes > [Philosophy is the microscope of thought. Everything desires to flee from it, but nothing escapes it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/philosophy-is-the-microscope-of-thought-everything-desires-to-flee/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Style essentially appeared out of what I liked to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/style-essentially-appeared-out-of-what-i-liked-to-do/) [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) > [“Anyways, that very same night there was a fight in the casino on B Deck. Some of the passengers got in a set-to that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-engela/anyways-that-very-same-night-there-was-a-fight-in-the-casino-on-b/) [Christina Engela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-engela/) > [This man, although he appeared so humble and embarrassed in his air and manners, and passed so unheeded, had inspired me with such a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adelbert-von-chamisso/this-man-although-he-appeared-so-humble-and-embarrassed-in-his-air/) [Adelbert von Chamisso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adelbert-von-chamisso/) > [I've appeared on some other people's albums.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerry-mulligan/i-ve-appeared-on-some-other-people-s-albums/) [Gerry Mulligan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerry-mulligan/) > [The Bible is full of warnings about false prophets and false messiahs. These satanically inspired people have appeared in almost every generation of history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/the-bible-is-full-of-warnings-about-false-prophets-and-false-messiahs/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > ['To Kill a Mockingbird' appeared to highly favorable reviews and quickly climbed to the top of bestseller lists, where it remained for more than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-j-shields/to-kill-a-mockingbird-appeared-to-highly-favorable-reviews-and/) [Charles J. Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-j-shields/) > [“Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear to others that what you were or might have been was not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-carroll/never-imagine-yourself-not-to-be-otherwise-than-what-it-might-appear/) [Lewis Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-carroll/) > [“When I started dating again in my fifties, I was surprised at how many ladies appeared to have accumulated no assets.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/when-i-started-dating-again-in-my-fifties-i-was-surprised-at-how-many/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [When I first appeared, people couldn't figure out whether I was gay, straight, black, white or whatever, and I loved that. I loved the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pink/when-i-first-appeared-people-couldn-t-figure-out-whether-i-was-gay/) [Pink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pink/) > [“Each one appeared less a human being than an extension of his fixed bayonet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-iossel/each-one-appeared-less-a-human-being-than-an-extension-of-his-fixed/) [Mikhail Iossel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-iossel/) > [When I appeared in 'Coronation Street,' I lived in Manchester and enjoyed it very much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mckellen/when-i-appeared-in-coronation-street-i-lived-in-manchester-and/) [Ian Mckellen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mckellen/) > [Until the Nineteen-Eighties, when Deng Xiaoping designated the area as China's first special economic zone, Shenzhen had been a tiny fishing village. Suddenly, eleven…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-specter/until-the-nineteen-eighties-when-deng-xiaoping-designated-the-area-as/) [Michael Specter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-specter/) > [When synthesizers appeared everyone was a composer suddenly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandre-desplat/when-synthesizers-appeared-everyone-was-a-composer-suddenly/) [Alexandre Desplat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandre-desplat/) > [Marilyn Monroe appeared to be perfect, but she wasn't perfect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-varney/marilyn-monroe-appeared-to-be-perfect-but-she-wasn-t-perfect/) [Janet Varney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-varney/) ## 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 Appeared quotes > [Marilyn Monroe appeared to be perfect, but she wasn't perfect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-varney/marilyn-monroe-appeared-to-be-perfect-but-she-wasn-t-perfect/) [Janet Varney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-varney/) > [When synthesizers appeared everyone was a composer suddenly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandre-desplat/when-synthesizers-appeared-everyone-was-a-composer-suddenly/) [Alexandre Desplat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandre-desplat/) > [Until the Nineteen-Eighties, when Deng Xiaoping designated the area as China's first special economic zone, Shenzhen had been a tiny fishing village. Suddenly, eleven…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-specter/until-the-nineteen-eighties-when-deng-xiaoping-designated-the-area-as/) [Michael Specter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-specter/) > [When I appeared in 'Coronation Street,' I lived in Manchester and enjoyed it very much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mckellen/when-i-appeared-in-coronation-street-i-lived-in-manchester-and/) [Ian Mckellen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mckellen/) > [“Each one appeared less a human being than an extension of his fixed bayonet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-iossel/each-one-appeared-less-a-human-being-than-an-extension-of-his-fixed/) [Mikhail Iossel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-iossel/) > [When I first appeared, people couldn't figure out whether I was gay, straight, black, white or whatever, and I loved that. I loved the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pink/when-i-first-appeared-people-couldn-t-figure-out-whether-i-was-gay/) [Pink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pink/) > [“When I started dating again in my fifties, I was surprised at how many ladies appeared to have accumulated no assets.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/when-i-started-dating-again-in-my-fifties-i-was-surprised-at-how-many/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [“Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear to others that what you were or might have been was not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-carroll/never-imagine-yourself-not-to-be-otherwise-than-what-it-might-appear/) [Lewis Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-carroll/) > ['To Kill a Mockingbird' appeared to highly favorable reviews and quickly climbed to the top of bestseller lists, where it remained for more than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-j-shields/to-kill-a-mockingbird-appeared-to-highly-favorable-reviews-and/) [Charles J. Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-j-shields/) > [The Bible is full of warnings about false prophets and false messiahs. These satanically inspired people have appeared in almost every generation of history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/the-bible-is-full-of-warnings-about-false-prophets-and-false-messiahs/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > [I've appeared on some other people's albums.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerry-mulligan/i-ve-appeared-on-some-other-people-s-albums/) [Gerry Mulligan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerry-mulligan/) > [This man, although he appeared so humble and embarrassed in his air and manners, and passed so unheeded, had inspired me with such a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adelbert-von-chamisso/this-man-although-he-appeared-so-humble-and-embarrassed-in-his-air/) [Adelbert von Chamisso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adelbert-von-chamisso/) > [“Anyways, that very same night there was a fight in the casino on B Deck. Some of the passengers got in a set-to that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-engela/anyways-that-very-same-night-there-was-a-fight-in-the-casino-on-b/) [Christina Engela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-engela/) > [Style essentially appeared out of what I liked to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/style-essentially-appeared-out-of-what-i-liked-to-do/) [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) > [“...we knew that everything was more about how it appeared than how it was. The most important thing, in any circumstance, was to amount…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janne-teller/we-knew-that-everything-was-more-about-how-it-appeared-than-how-it/) [Janne Teller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janne-teller/) [Browse all 110 Appeared quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/appeared/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“And if she had appeared, would I have dared to speak to her? I felt that she would have regarded me as mad, for I no longer thought of those desires which came to me on my walks, but were never realized, as being shared by others, or as having any existence apart from myself.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Marcel Proust" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/and-if-she-had-appeared-would-i-have-dared-to-speak-to-her-i-felt/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Appeared" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/and-if-she-had-appeared-would-i-have-dared-to-speak-to-her-i-felt/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30c/marcel-proust-114_appeared_and-if-she-had-appeared-would-i-have-dar_42539.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30c/marcel-proust-114_appeared_and-if-she-had-appeared-would-i-have-dar_42539.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30c/marcel-proust-114_appeared_and-if-she-had-appeared-would-i-have-dar_42539.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“And if she had appeared, would I have dared to speak to her? I felt that she would have regarded me as mad…” — 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": "“And if she had appeared, would...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/and-if-she-had-appeared-would-i-have-dared-to-speak-to-her-i-felt/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/and-if-she-had-appeared-would-i-have-dared-to-speak-to-her-i-felt/#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 } } ] } ```