--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For man is that ageless creature who has…" description: "\"“For man is that ageless creature who has the faculty of becoming many years younger in a few seconds, and who, surrounded by the walls of the time thr..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be2/marcel-proust-114_ageless_for-man-is-that-ageless-creature-who-has_3069627.jpg" --- # For man is that ageless creature who has the faculty of… ![“For man is that ageless creature who has the faculty of becoming many years younger in a few seconds, and who, surrounded by the walls of the time through which he has lived, floats within them as in a pool the surface-level of which is constantly changing so as to bring him within range now of…” quote by Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be2/marcel-proust-114_ageless_for-man-is-that-ageless-creature-who-has_3069627.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be2/marcel-proust-114_ageless_for-man-is-that-ageless-creature-who-has_3069627.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be2/marcel-proust-114_ageless_for-man-is-that-ageless-creature-who-has_3069627.jpg) > ““For man is that ageless creature who has the faculty of becoming many years younger in a few seconds, and who, surrounded by the walls of the time through which he has lived, floats within them as in a pool the surface-level of which is constantly changing so as to bring him within range now of one epoch, now of another.”” [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. Human existence transcends time, allowing individuals to feel younger and shift across epochs, experiencing life as a fluid, ever‑changing continuum. **In simple terms:** Time is fluid; we can feel younger. Key Takeaway Embrace life's temporal fluidity. Themes time identity existence Mood reflective poetic Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - personal growth - historical reflection - creative writing Key Concepts psychology philosophy literature Questions to Reflect On - How does this view affect aging? - What does it mean for personal legacy? A Different Perspective Perception of time varies across cultures. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ageless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ageless/) [Epoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/epoch/) ## Related quotes > [Wrestling introduced me to the idea that my body has a purpose besides trying to look five years younger for the first time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betty-gilpin/wrestling-introduced-me-to-the-idea-that-my-body-has-a-purpose/) [Betty Gilpin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betty-gilpin/) > [A study says owning a dog makes you 10 years younger. My first thought was to rescue two more, but I don't want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-rivers/a-study-says-owning-a-dog-makes-you-10-years-younger-my-first-thought/) [Joan Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-rivers/) > [“Look, I’m completely flattered but you look kind of young.” He furrowed his eyebrow. “That’s very nice of you to say, but that doesn’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whitney-g/look-i-m-completely-flattered-but-you-look-kind-of-young-he-furrowed/) [Whitney G](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whitney-g/) > [Long-term meditators can have a biological age 5 to 12 years younger than their chronological age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/long-term-meditators-can-have-a-biological-age-5-to-12-years-younger/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [All through the student years, I was at the top of my class although I was two years younger than everybody else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/renato-dulbecco/all-through-the-student-years-i-was-at-the-top-of-my-class-although-i/) [Renato Dulbecco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/renato-dulbecco/) > [Cats 25 years younger can't run with me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raphael-saadiq/cats-25-years-younger-can-t-run-with-me/) [Raphael Saadiq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raphael-saadiq/) > [“He’s only two years younger, but that doesn’t mean I’m not old enough to be his father. I grew up fast. Ah, but that’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/he-s-only-two-years-younger-but-that-doesn-t-mean-i-m-not-old-enough/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [I'm not old. I'm 37, but I can do things that fighters 10 years younger cannot. I will prove that, or I will die trying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mirko-cro-cop/i-m-not-old-i-m-37-but-i-can-do-things-that-fighters-10-years-younger/) [Mirko Cro Cop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mirko-cro-cop/) > [My brother Martin is two years younger than me. There has never been any competition between us - clearly he was the good-looking one;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-kemp/my-brother-martin-is-two-years-younger-than-me-there-has-never-been/) [Gary Kemp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-kemp/) > [For me, personally, there is one really interesting thing. You're all a bit too young for that, but when you get to a certain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christoph-waltz/for-me-personally-there-is-one-really-interesting-thing-you-re-all-a/) [Christoph Waltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christoph-waltz/) > [“Oliver: But there's the catch: you're still twenty years younger than those gathered around you, which is why I can be twenty-four in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/oliver-but-there-s-the-catch-you-re-still-twenty-years-younger-than/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“She was fifteen years younger than Paul, a point his other retired cop friends kidded him about mercilessly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-james/she-was-fifteen-years-younger-than-paul-a-point-his-other-retired-cop/) [Russell James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-james/) > [I sometimes wish I was 10 years younger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ainsley-harriott/i-sometimes-wish-i-was-10-years-younger/) [Ainsley Harriott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ainsley-harriott/) > [Whether it's a blessing or a curse, I have always played someone like 10 years younger. When I was 23 or 24, I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elisabeth-harnois/whether-it-s-a-blessing-or-a-curse-i-have-always-played-someone-like/) [Elisabeth Harnois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elisabeth-harnois/) > [“The cup-sized breasts of that twenty-four year old impatient beauty seemed a dozen years younger than she, with those pale squinty nipples and firm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/the-cup-sized-breasts-of-that-twenty-four-year-old-impatient-beauty/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) ## 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 Ageless quotes > [The survival of the fittest is the ageless law of nature, but the fittest are rarely the strong. The fittest are those endowed with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-smalley/the-survival-of-the-fittest-is-the-ageless-law-of-nature-but-the/) [Dave Smalley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-smalley/) > [My aging body transmits an ageless life stream. Molecular and atomic replacement change life's composition. Molecules take part in structure and in training, countless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lindbergh/my-aging-body-transmits-an-ageless-life-stream-molecular-and-atomic/) [Charles Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lindbergh/) > [When I dream, I am ageless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-jane-coatsworth/when-i-dream-i-am-ageless/) [Elizabeth Jane Coatsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-jane-coatsworth/) > [Movies make you immortal and ageless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-scott-thomas/movies-make-you-immortal-and-ageless/) [Kristin Scott Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-scott-thomas/) > [Your inside person doesn’t age. Your inside person is soul, is heart, in the eternal now, the ageless, the old, the young, all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/your-inside-person-doesn-t-age-your-inside-person-is-soul-is-heart-in/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [Music is neither old nor modern: it is either good or bad music, and the date at which it was written has no significance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-warlock/music-is-neither-old-nor-modern-it-is-either-good-or-bad-music-and/) [Peter Warlock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-warlock/) > [I like to consider myself young at heart and ageless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/delisha-milton-jones/i-like-to-consider-myself-young-at-heart-and-ageless/) [DeLisha Milton-Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/delisha-milton-jones/) > [All good music, whatever its date, is ageless - as alive and significant today as it was when it was written.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-warlock/all-good-music-whatever-its-date-is-ageless-as-alive-and-significant/) [Peter Warlock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-warlock/) > [The ageless Dennis Wise, now in his thirties.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-tyler/the-ageless-dennis-wise-now-in-his-thirties/) [Martin Tyler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-tyler/) > [I feel that beauty and femininity are ageless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-monroe/i-feel-that-beauty-and-femininity-are-ageless/) [Marilyn Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-monroe/) > [Desire, when it stems from the heart and spirit, when it is pure and intense, possesses awesome electromagnetic energy. This energy is released into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/desire-when-it-stems-from-the-heart-and-spirit-when-it-is-pure-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Sex and beauty are inseparable, like life and consciousness. And the intelligence which goes with sex and beauty, and arises out of sex and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/sex-and-beauty-are-inseparable-like-life-and-consciousness-and-the/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [Inside, we are ageless and when we talk to ourselves, it’s the same age of the person we were talking to when we were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lynch/inside-we-are-ageless-and-when-we-talk-to-ourselves-it-s-the-same-age/) [David Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lynch/) > [In marriage there are no manners to keep up, and beneath the wildest accusations no real criticism. Each is familiar with that ancient child…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enid-bagnold/in-marriage-there-are-no-manners-to-keep-up-and-beneath-the-wildest/) [Enid Bagnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enid-bagnold/) > [“Friendship is ageless. It is the spirit we should like and care for, not the shell that encases it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/friendship-is-ageless-it-is-the-spirit-we-should-like-and-care-for/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 69 Ageless quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ageless/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“For man is that ageless creature who has the faculty of becoming many years younger in a few seconds, and who, surrounded by the walls of the time through which he has lived, floats within them as in a pool the surface-level of which is constantly changing so as to bring him within range now of one epoch, now of another.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Marcel Proust" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/for-man-is-that-ageless-creature-who-has-the-faculty-of-becoming-many/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ageless" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/for-man-is-that-ageless-creature-who-has-the-faculty-of-becoming-many/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be2/marcel-proust-114_ageless_for-man-is-that-ageless-creature-who-has_3069627.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be2/marcel-proust-114_ageless_for-man-is-that-ageless-creature-who-has_3069627.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be2/marcel-proust-114_ageless_for-man-is-that-ageless-creature-who-has_3069627.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“For man is that ageless creature who has the faculty of becoming many years younger in a few seconds, and…” — 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": "“For man is that ageless creature...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/for-man-is-that-ageless-creature-who-has-the-faculty-of-becoming-many/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/for-man-is-that-ageless-creature-who-has-the-faculty-of-becoming-many/#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 } } ] } ```