---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And so it is with things that we shall…"
description: "\"“And so it is with things that we shall later love the most. We meet them first as strangers who give us only a feeling of surprise.”\" — Marcel Proust"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e6d/marcel-proust-114_love_and-so-it-is-with-things-that-we-shall-l_88445.jpg"
---

#  And so it is with things that we shall later love the…

![“And so it is with things that we shall later love the most. We meet them first as strangers who give us only a feeling of surprise.” quote by Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e6d/marcel-proust-114_love_and-so-it-is-with-things-that-we-shall-l_88445.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e6d/marcel-proust-114_love_and-so-it-is-with-things-that-we-shall-l_88445.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e6d/marcel-proust-114_love_and-so-it-is-with-things-that-we-shall-l_88445.jpg)

> ““And so it is with things that we shall later love the most. We meet them first as strangers who give us only a feeling of surprise.””

[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.

We initially encounter future loves as strangers, feeling only surprise; over time they become deeply cherished.

**In simple terms:** First encounters are surprising, later love deepens.

Key Takeaway

Love evolves from novelty to intimacy.

Themes

love relationships growth surprise

Mood

hopeful warm

Type

reflective philosophical

When to use this quote

- meeting a new partner
- forming a lasting friendship
- discovering a hobby

Key Concepts

temporal development of affection psychology of attachment

Practical Applications

- Allow relationships to develop without rushing
- Revisit early interactions to appreciate growth

Questions to Reflect On

- What makes an initial surprise turn into lasting love?
- How can we recognize early signs of deep connection?

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Strangers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strangers/)

## Related quotes

> [Good things happen when you meet strangers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yo-yo-ma/good-things-happen-when-you-meet-strangers/)

[Yo-Yo Ma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yo-yo-ma/)

> [When a society is criticised by outsiders, its members wince but shrug their shoulders. 'What you can expect from strangers?' is the feeling. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michela-wrong/when-a-society-is-criticised-by-outsiders-its-members-wince-but-shrug/)

[Michela Wrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michela-wrong/)

> [I don't often meet with strangers and feel okay about collaborating with them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-holter/i-don-t-often-meet-with-strangers-and-feel-okay-about-collaborating/)

[Julia Holter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-holter/)

> [In their early passions women are in love with the lover, later they are in love with love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/in-their-early-passions-women-are-in-love-with-the-lover-later-they/)

[Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/)

> [“If you want to be happy now, love now; if you want to be happy later, love later; but if you want to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/if-you-want-to-be-happy-now-love-now-if-you-want-to-be-happy-later/)

[Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/)

> [“We all had to say goodbye, sooner or later, to those we love--or they had to say goodbye to us. Those were the only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-mccall-smith/we-all-had-to-say-goodbye-sooner-or-later-to-those-we-love-or-they/)

[Alexander McCall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-mccall-smith/)

> [I think this is the way love feels to people like you and me. Threatening and dangerous. We have to be in control, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-elizabeth-phillips/i-think-this-is-the-way-love-feels-to-people-like-you-and-me/)

[Susan Elizabeth Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-elizabeth-phillips/)

> [One of the age-old truths about love is that while it offers unparalleled opportunities for union and the lifting of ego boundaries, it also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-epstein/one-of-the-age-old-truths-about-love-is-that-while-it-offers/)

[Mark Epstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-epstein/)

> [It's just a little crush, it'll go away soon. 16 months later and I'm still in love with you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-s-just-a-little-crush-it-ll-go-away-soon-16-months-later-and-i-m/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Sometimes you have to get to know someone really well to realize you're really strangers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-tyler-moore/sometimes-you-have-to-get-to-know-someone-really-well-to-realize-you/)

[Mary Tyler Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-tyler-moore/)

> [Has this ever happened to you? You run into a friend you haven't spoken to in a while. You look at each other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/imynatot/has-this-ever-happened-to-you-you-run-into-a-friend-you-haven-t/)

IMynatot

> [The Internet lets thousands of total strangers collaborate to produce a truly hivelike result.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-thompson/the-internet-lets-thousands-of-total-strangers-collaborate-to-produce/)

[Clive Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-thompson/)

> [It's amazing when strangers become friends but it's so sad, when friends become strangers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-s-amazing-when-strangers-become-friends-but-it-s-so-sad-when/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [If you read 'Lord of the Rings' and dismiss it as a lie because it has orcs and elves, you're missing the whole point…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doug-tennapel/if-you-read-lord-of-the-rings-and-dismiss-it-as-a-lie-because-it-has/)

[Doug TenNapel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doug-tennapel/)

> [A place has almost the shyness of a person, with strangers; and its secret is not to be surprised by a too direct interrogation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-symons/a-place-has-almost-the-shyness-of-a-person-with-strangers-and-its/)

[Arthur Symons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-symons/)

## 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 Love quotes

> [Whatever meaning 'Annie's Song' had for me on a personal level, there was also a larger context. It could just as easily have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-denver/whatever-meaning-annie-s-song-had-for-me-on-a-personal-level-there/)

[John Denver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-denver/)

> [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [I need a bath." He chuckled. "You smell of smoke, as do I." The duke turned, leaning heavily on his cane. "Jameson, open the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-hawkins/i-need-a-bath-he-chuckled-you-smell-of-smoke-as-do-i-the-duke-turned/)

[Karen Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-hawkins/)

> [I love going to Columbia, Missouri. That is a really underrated campus. It shocked me when I went there because I really didn't know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kirk-herbstreit/i-love-going-to-columbia-missouri-that-is-a-really-underrated-campus/)

[Kirk Herbstreit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kirk-herbstreit/)

> [Life works most perfectly when a reciprocal love relationship is in place between man and God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-moore/life-works-most-perfectly-when-a-reciprocal-love-relationship-is-in/)

[Beth Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-moore/)

> [We talk to God--that is prayer; God talks to us--that is inspiration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-emilie-cady/we-talk-to-god-that-is-prayer-god-talks-to-us-that-is-inspiration/)

[H. Emilie Cady](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-emilie-cady/)

> [I fell in love with social work, and that was my undoing as a poet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-rakosi/i-fell-in-love-with-social-work-and-that-was-my-undoing-as-a-poet/)

[Carl Rakosi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-rakosi/)

> [You cant be controlling in improv.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-walsh/you-cant-be-controlling-in-improv/)

[Matt Walsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-walsh/)

> [Everyone needs someone to love, and I choose you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/everyone-needs-someone-to-love-and-i-choose-you/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [I think, here's what I've realized from interviewing people, and I've been very open about my Catholicism and my love of Christ and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-mohr/i-think-here-s-what-i-ve-realized-from-interviewing-people-and-i-ve/)

[Jay Mohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-mohr/)

> [“To be loved by a man, truly loved, made a woman feel as if she could burst. Of course, Lia was strong and could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melody-anne/to-be-loved-by-a-man-truly-loved-made-a-woman-feel-as-if-she-could/)

[Melody Anne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melody-anne/)

> [So when you take those tears, don't look to see I'm alright. …\*Seal - Violet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-nickel/so-when-you-take-those-tears-don-t-look-to-see-i-m-alright-seal-violet/)

[Eric Nickel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-nickel/)

> [Two things revolutionised life: moving to the countryside and falling in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-love/two-things-revolutionised-life-moving-to-the-countryside-and-falling/)

[Nick Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-love/)

> [“That horrible stinging sensation returned, the muscles behind my eyes straining as the first tear began to fall. “I’m scared, too. For eighteen months…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/devon-ashley/that-horrible-stinging-sensation-returned-the-muscles-behind-my-eyes/)

[Devon Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/devon-ashley/)

> [I could program a 'fabulous, I love it' kind of hit season right now. I'm more interested in breaking boundaries, telling a story, defying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-c-wolfe/i-could-program-a-fabulous-i-love-it-kind-of-hit-season-right-now-i-m/)

[George C. Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-c-wolfe/)

[Browse all 233,035 Love quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“And so it is with things that we shall later love the most. We meet them first as strangers who give us only a feeling of surprise.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Marcel Proust"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/and-so-it-is-with-things-that-we-shall-later-love-the-most-we-meet/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Love"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/and-so-it-is-with-things-that-we-shall-later-love-the-most-we-meet/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e6d/marcel-proust-114_love_and-so-it-is-with-things-that-we-shall-l_88445.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e6d/marcel-proust-114_love_and-so-it-is-with-things-that-we-shall-l_88445.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e6d/marcel-proust-114_love_and-so-it-is-with-things-that-we-shall-l_88445.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“And so it is with things that we shall later love the most. We meet them first as strangers who give us only…” — 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 so it is with things...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/and-so-it-is-with-things-that-we-shall-later-love-the-most-we-meet/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/and-so-it-is-with-things-that-we-shall-later-love-the-most-we-meet/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```