--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Certainly, it is more reasonable to…" description: "\"“Certainly, it is more reasonable to devote one's life to women than to postage stamps, old snuff-boxes, or even to paintings and statues.”\" — Marcel P..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbc/marcel-proust-114_collecting_certainly-it-is-more-reasonable-to-devot_1268750.jpg" --- # Certainly, it is more reasonable to devote one's life to… ![“Certainly, it is more reasonable to devote one's life to women than to postage stamps, old snuff-boxes, or even to paintings and statues.” quote by Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbc/marcel-proust-114_collecting_certainly-it-is-more-reasonable-to-devot_1268750.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbc/marcel-proust-114_collecting_certainly-it-is-more-reasonable-to-devot_1268750.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbc/marcel-proust-114_collecting_certainly-it-is-more-reasonable-to-devot_1268750.jpg) > ““Certainly, it is more reasonable to devote one's life to women than to postage stamps, old snuff-boxes, or even to paintings and statues.”” [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. Devoting life to women offers richer, more meaningful experiences than material or artistic obsessions. **In simple terms:** People are more fulfilling than objects. Key Takeaway Prioritize human connections over possessions. Themes love human connection values Mood thoughtful philosophical Type literary reflective When to use this quote - dating - friendship - career choices Key Concepts existentialism philosophy materialism Questions to Reflect On - What relationships have shaped your life most? - How do you balance love and personal passions? A Different Perspective May overlook the value of art and history. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Certainly Reasonable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certainly-reasonable-4059832/) [Collecting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collecting/) [Devote Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devote-life-447091/) [Feminism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feminism/) [Life women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-women/) [Obsession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obsession/) [Postage stamps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/postage-stamps/) [Reasonable Devote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reasonable-devote-4059833/) [Women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/women/) [Women Postage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/women-postage-1659761/) ## Related quotes > [Certainly, it is more reasonable to devote one's life to women than to postage stamps or old snuff-boxes, even to pictures or statues. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/certainly-it-is-more-reasonable-to-devote-one-s-life-to-women-than-to/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [ “...\[A\] strange necessity has been laid upon me to devote my life to the central concern that transcends the walls that divide and would… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-thurman/a-strange-necessity-has-been-laid-upon-me-to-devote-my-life-to-the/) [Howard Thurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-thurman/) > [A person will sometimes devote all his life to the development of one part of his body - the wishbone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-frost/a-person-will-sometimes-devote-all-his-life-to-the-development-of-one/) [Robert Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-frost/) > [You basically have to be willing to devote your life to journalism if you want to break in. Treat it like it's medical school…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/you-basically-have-to-be-willing-to-devote-your-life-to-journalism-if/) [Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/) > [If you devote your life to seeking revenge, first dig two graves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/if-you-devote-your-life-to-seeking-revenge-first-dig-two-graves/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [“You can devote your life to the vision that is in your heart---if you have courage to focus your energy there. Of course, there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-o-leary/you-can-devote-your-life-to-the-vision-that-is-in-your-heart-if-you/) [Jeff O'Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-o-leary/) > [“One day God will review your answers to these life questions. Did you put Jesus at the center of your life? Did you develop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/one-day-god-will-review-your-answers-to-these-life-questions-did-you/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) > [Opera requires an enormous commitment. You must devote your whole life to producing that extraordinary sound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-allam/opera-requires-an-enormous-commitment-you-must-devote-your-whole-life/) [Roger Allam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-allam/) > [In my early 20s, I studied history and politics, and I really thought that perhaps I would devote my life to that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-shawn/in-my-early-20s-i-studied-history-and-politics-and-i-really-thought/) [Wallace Shawn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-shawn/) > [When you choose a managerial path, you are choosing to devote your life to people. Period.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-peters/when-you-choose-a-managerial-path-you-are-choosing-to-devote-your/) [Tom Peters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-peters/) > [Well, I spent six or seven years after high school trying to work myself up. Shipping clerk, salesman, business of one kind or another.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-miller/well-i-spent-six-or-seven-years-after-high-school-trying-to-work/) [Arthur Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-miller/) > [The demand that I make of my reader is that he should devote his whole Life to reading my works.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/the-demand-that-i-make-of-my-reader-is-that-he-should-devote-his/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [I imagine a world in which all humans are born with an intact capacity to love, and I am willing to devote my life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-lim/i-imagine-a-world-in-which-all-humans-are-born-with-an-intact/) [Robin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-lim/) > [It’s worth noting that you can devote your life to community service and be a total schmuck. You can spend your life on Wall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brooks/it-s-worth-noting-that-you-can-devote-your-life-to-community-service/) [David Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brooks/) > [If it is unappetizing: Do not eat, date, or sign up for it. If the mere thought of it is depressing: Do not major…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-it-is-unappetizing-do-not-eat-date-or-sign-up-for-it-if-the-mere/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## 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 Collecting quotes > [I've always been interested in photographs, collecting them not systematically but randomly. They get lost, then turn up again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/i-ve-always-been-interested-in-photographs-collecting-them-not/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [Taking photos is a form of collecting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-parr/taking-photos-is-a-form-of-collecting/) [Martin Parr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-parr/) > [If you're feeling fancy free, come wander through the world with me, and any place we chance to be, will be a rendezvous. Two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-mancini/if-you-re-feeling-fancy-free-come-wander-through-the-world-with-me/) [Henry Mancini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-mancini/) > [I found so-called great art too pompous, too stiff. What at this time was called minor art was freer, more imaginative, more open to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lipchitz/i-found-so-called-great-art-too-pompous-too-stiff-what-at-this-time/) [Jacques Lipchitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lipchitz/) > [My real first job was delivering newspapers with I was 15. I would ride my bike around and chuck papers at people's houses. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dane-cook/my-real-first-job-was-delivering-newspapers-with-i-was-15-i-would/) [Dane Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dane-cook/) > [I didn't really grow up a comic book fanatic. I was a big baseball player, and my passion in life, in third grade, was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-ritchson/i-didn-t-really-grow-up-a-comic-book-fanatic-i-was-a-big-baseball/) [Alan Ritchson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-ritchson/) > [I don't know who had the training of you," he continued doggedly, "but your morals are shocking. You spent a night in my bed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loretta-chase/i-don-t-know-who-had-the-training-of-you-he-continued-doggedly-but/) [Loretta Chase](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loretta-chase/) > [...You can go your whole life collecting days, and none will outweigh the one you wish you had back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/you-can-go-your-whole-life-collecting-days-and-none-will-outweigh-the/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [Instead of collecting things and staying in one space, I want to collect experiences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kesh/instead-of-collecting-things-and-staying-in-one-space-i-want-to/) [Kesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kesh/) > [I started collecting couture when I was about 10 or 11 years old, and the very first piece I bought was a Balenciaga suit from 1962.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hamish-bowles/i-started-collecting-couture-when-i-was-about-10-or-11-years-old-and/) [Hamish Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hamish-bowles/) > [I imagine the wave of water colliding with the rock and spilling over the tile floor, collecting around my shoes. Doing a little at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-roth/i-imagine-the-wave-of-water-colliding-with-the-rock-and-spilling-over/) [Veronica Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-roth/) > [I needed more knowledge in rigging and knotting. I started collecting books on knots and really learning more and more. That's how it started.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philippe-petit/i-needed-more-knowledge-in-rigging-and-knotting-i-started-collecting/) [Philippe Petit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philippe-petit/) > [Physics is the only real science. 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Would my company be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vinod-khosla/if-i-collected-all-the-diamonds-in-the-world-i-d-have-no-income-but-i/) [Vinod Khosla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vinod-khosla/) [Browse all 493 Collecting quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collecting/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Certainly, it is more reasonable to devote one's life to women than to postage stamps, old snuff-boxes, or even to paintings and statues.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Marcel Proust" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/certainly-it-is-more-reasonable-to-devote-one-s-life-to-women-than-to-2/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Collecting" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/certainly-it-is-more-reasonable-to-devote-one-s-life-to-women-than-to-2/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbc/marcel-proust-114_collecting_certainly-it-is-more-reasonable-to-devot_1268750.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbc/marcel-proust-114_collecting_certainly-it-is-more-reasonable-to-devot_1268750.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbc/marcel-proust-114_collecting_certainly-it-is-more-reasonable-to-devot_1268750.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Certainly, it is more reasonable to devote one's life to women than to postage stamps, old snuff-boxes, or…” — 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": "“Certainly, it is more reasonable to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/certainly-it-is-more-reasonable-to-devote-one-s-life-to-women-than-to-2/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/certainly-it-is-more-reasonable-to-devote-one-s-life-to-women-than-to-2/#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 } } ] } ```