--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As though on a seedling whose blossoms…" description: "\"“As though on a seedling whose blossoms ripen at different times, I had seen in old ladies, on that beach at Balbec, the dried-up seeds and sagging tub..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ece/marcel-proust-114_blossoming_as-though-on-a-seedling-whose-blossoms-r_1990272.jpg" --- # As though on a seedling whose blossoms ripen at different… ![“As though on a seedling whose blossoms ripen at different times, I had seen in old ladies, on that beach at Balbec, the dried-up seeds and sagging tubers that my girl-friends would become. But, now that it was time for buds to blossom, what did that matter?” quote by Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ece/marcel-proust-114_blossoming_as-though-on-a-seedling-whose-blossoms-r_1990272.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ece/marcel-proust-114_blossoming_as-though-on-a-seedling-whose-blossoms-r_1990272.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ece/marcel-proust-114_blossoming_as-though-on-a-seedling-whose-blossoms-r_1990272.jpg) > ““As though on a seedling whose blossoms ripen at different times, I had seen in old ladies, on that beach at Balbec, the dried-up seeds and sagging tubers that my girl-friends would become. But, now that it was time for buds to blossom, what did that matter?”” [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 reflects on aging and the inevitable changes in people, seeing old women as seeds that will eventually sprout into new lives, questioning the relevance of timing. **In simple terms:** Aging shows change; timing may be irrelevant. Key Takeaway Accept change without clinging to schedules. Themes aging change time reflection Mood melancholic contemplative Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - watching elderly - personal growth - life planning - accepting loss Key Concepts existentialism memory impermanence Questions to Reflect On - How do you view aging in yourself? - Can timing ever truly be ignored? A Different Perspective It may overlook individual agency and the value of patience. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Blossom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blossom/) [Blossoming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blossoming/) [Buds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/buds/) [Flowers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flowers/) [Old age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-age/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Youth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/youth/) ## Related quotes > [“If you tend to a flower, it will bloom, no matter how many weeds surround it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/if-you-tend-to-a-flower-it-will-bloom-no-matter-how-many-weeds/) [Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/) > [“Roses do not bloom hurriedly; for beauty, like any masterpiece, takes time to blossom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/roses-do-not-bloom-hurriedly-for-beauty-like-any-masterpiece-takes/) [Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/) > [Labor is blossoming or dancing where The body is not bruised to pleasure soul, Nor beauty born out of its own despair, Nor blear-eyed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/labor-is-blossoming-or-dancing-where-the-body-is-not-bruised-to/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [“THE WEATHER OF LOVE Love Has a way of wilting Or blossoming At the strangest, Most unpredictable hour. This is how love is, An…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzy-kassem/the-weather-of-love-love-has-a-way-of-wilting-or-blossoming-at-the/) [Suzy Kassem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzy-kassem/) > [“Oh, my poor little hawthorns," I was assuring them through my sobs, "it isn't you who want me to be unhappy, to force me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/oh-my-poor-little-hawthorns-i-was-assuring-them-through-my-sobs-it/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Desire makes everything blossom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/desire-makes-everything-blossom/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [My family is delighted every time I cook maitake. Our taste buds awaken in anticipation of its rich, deep and nuanced flavors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-stamets/my-family-is-delighted-every-time-i-cook-maitake-our-taste-buds/) [Paul Stamets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-stamets/) > [The interesting thing about the miracle berry in chemo patients is that it actually straightens out their taste buds, whereas for you and I,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homaro-cantu/the-interesting-thing-about-the-miracle-berry-in-chemo-patients-is/) [Homaro Cantu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homaro-cantu/) > [Children are sweet as the buds in spring, But I've noticed that those who have them Have nothing but trouble all their lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/euripides/children-are-sweet-as-the-buds-in-spring-but-i-ve-noticed-that-those/) [Euripides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/euripides/) > [“what a rich book might be made about buds and, perhaps, sprouts!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thoreau-henry-david/what-a-rich-book-might-be-made-about-buds-and-perhaps-sprouts/) Thoreau Henry David > [Gather the flowers, but spare the buds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-marvell/gather-the-flowers-but-spare-the-buds/) [Andrew Marvell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-marvell/) > [I can taste a meal and tell you every spice that's in there. I have taste buds like Betty Grable's legs - they should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-resnick/i-can-taste-a-meal-and-tell-you-every-spice-that-s-in-there-i-have/) [Lynda Resnick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-resnick/) > [The donning of the ear buds marks the beginning of teen life, when children set off on their own for the passage through adolescence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amity-shlaes/the-donning-of-the-ear-buds-marks-the-beginning-of-teen-life-when/) [Amity Shlaes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amity-shlaes/) > [I think I can capture the taste buds of the average right-wing conservative who loves barbecue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bobby-seale/i-think-i-can-capture-the-taste-buds-of-the-average-right-wing/) [Bobby Seale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bobby-seale/) > [See shes on my tonge my taste buds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-and-lil-wayne/see-shes-on-my-tonge-my-taste-buds/) Claudia And Lil Wayne ## 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 Blossom quotes > [My first concert ever was my freshman year of high school, at Blossom, and it was Lil Wayne and Young Money. It was wild.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-nance-jr/my-first-concert-ever-was-my-freshman-year-of-high-school-at-blossom/) [Larry Nance, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-nance-jr/) > [I'm sure there was some part of his soul was intrinsically happy, but he probably had to go through some permutations to really get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-grant/i-m-sure-there-was-some-part-of-his-soul-was-intrinsically-happy-but/) [Jennifer Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-grant/) > [Am I accurately reporting what I see in such a blossom? The answer is no ... and yes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-lacy/am-i-accurately-reporting-what-i-see-in-such-a-blossom-the-answer-is/) [Allen Lacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-lacy/) > [“Autumn had arrived— the last blossom whispered, let me stay awhile.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meeta-ahluwalia/autumn-had-arrived-the-last-blossom-whispered-let-me-stay-awhile/) [Meeta Ahluwalia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meeta-ahluwalia/) > [I love Serge Lutens orange blossom perfume; my mom got it for me. It's my favorite. It just smells clean.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gia-coppola/i-love-serge-lutens-orange-blossom-perfume-my-mom-got-it-for-me-it-s/) [Gia Coppola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gia-coppola/) > [“Like wind and fire, water and soil, we used one another, to grow and blossom. Love was a dream, elusive as were we.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iva-hotko/like-wind-and-fire-water-and-soil-we-used-one-another-to-grow-and/) [Iva Hotko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iva-hotko/) > [Fruits that blossom first will first be ripe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/fruits-that-blossom-first-will-first-be-ripe/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“This is BLOSSOM!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-brickley/this-is-blossom/) Katherine Brickley > [Labor is blossoming or dancing where The body is not bruised to pleasure soul, Nor beauty born out of its own despair, Nor blear-eyed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/labor-is-blossoming-or-dancing-where-the-body-is-not-bruised-to/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [Poetry is the silence and speech between a wet struggling root of a flower and a sunlit blossom of that flower.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sandburg/poetry-is-the-silence-and-speech-between-a-wet-struggling-root-of-a/) [Carl Sandburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sandburg/) > [“ A Blessing Just off the highway to Rochester, Minnesota, Twilight bounds softly forth on the grass. And the eyes of those two Indian…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-wright/a-blessing-just-off-the-highway-to-rochester-minnesota-twilight/) [James Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-wright/) > [Part of my personality is I like to have a good time and I'm an extrovert, and extroverts, they blossom as meathead frat boys…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bert-kreischer/part-of-my-personality-is-i-like-to-have-a-good-time-and-i-m-an/) [Bert Kreischer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bert-kreischer/) > [I would've preferred to blossom earlier in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-dean-stanton/i-would-ve-preferred-to-blossom-earlier-in-life/) [Harry Dean Stanton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-dean-stanton/) > [“it takes a village to build success in publishing a book - it takes friends that are willing to help - it takes hours…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rich-okun/it-takes-a-village-to-build-success-in-publishing-a-book-it-takes/) Rich Okun > [I'll have an awesome blossom, EXTRA awesome.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-scott/i-ll-have-an-awesome-blossom-extra-awesome/) [Michael Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-scott/) [Browse all 185 Blossom quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blossom/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“As though on a seedling whose blossoms ripen at different times, I had seen in old ladies, on that beach at Balbec, the dried-up seeds and sagging tubers that my girl-friends would become. 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