--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For one cannot change, that is to say…" description: "\"For one cannot change, that is to say become another person, while continuing to acquiesce to the feelings of the person one no longer is.\" — Marcel Pr..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b9/marcel-proust-114_change_for-one-cannot-change-that-is-to-say-bec_1800042.jpg" --- # For one cannot change, that is to say become another… ![“For one cannot change, that is to say become another person, while continuing to acquiesce to the feelings of the person one no longer is.” quote by Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b9/marcel-proust-114_change_for-one-cannot-change-that-is-to-say-bec_1800042.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b9/marcel-proust-114_change_for-one-cannot-change-that-is-to-say-bec_1800042.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b9/marcel-proust-114_change_for-one-cannot-change-that-is-to-say-bec_1800042.jpg) > “For one cannot change, that is to say become another person, while continuing to acquiesce to the feelings of the person one no longer is.” [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. Identity cannot be truly altered while still accepting the emotions of a former self. **In simple terms:** You cannot become someone new while clinging to old feelings. Key Takeaway Let go of past emotions to truly change. Themes identity change self-awareness Mood reflective introspective Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - therapy sessions - relationship transitions - career pivots - self‑reflection Key Concepts psychology philosophy personal growth Questions to Reflect On - What feelings keep you tied to your old self? - How can you release them? A Different Perspective Change may be resisted by deep‑seated habits and memories. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Acquiesce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/acquiesce-3165/) [Acquiesce Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/acquiesce-feelings-2023011/) [Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) [Change Say](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change-say-392351/) [Continuing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/continuing/) [Continuing Acquiesce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/continuing-acquiesce-2023010/) [Different](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/different/) [Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings/) [Feelings Person](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings-person-369590/) [Persons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/persons/) ## Related quotes > [One cannot change, that is to say become a different person, while continuing to acquiesce to the feelings of the person one has ceased…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/one-cannot-change-that-is-to-say-become-a-different-person-while/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“Simply to acquiesce in skepticism can never suffice to overcome the restlessness of reason.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/simply-to-acquiesce-in-skepticism-can-never-suffice-to-overcome-the/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [Young parents in America are holy and not to be messed with. If they say something is correct, we all acquiesce. And is there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amity-shlaes/young-parents-in-america-are-holy-and-not-to-be-messed-with-if-they/) [Amity Shlaes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amity-shlaes/) > [ Though \[the people\] may acquiesce, they cannot approve what they do not understand. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/though-the-people-may-acquiesce-they-cannot-approve-what-they-do-not/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Acceptance does not mean that you placidly acquiesce to the myriad injustices that are all around you. In fact, that you are incensed about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/srikumar-rao/acceptance-does-not-mean-that-you-placidly-acquiesce-to-the-myriad/) [Srikumar Rao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/srikumar-rao/) > [There came a time when these two incompatible notions of who I was, well, something had to give. Either that 'something' is where you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-parker/there-came-a-time-when-these-two-incompatible-notions-of-who-i-was/) [Sean Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-parker/) > [If I were to give off-the-cuff advice to anyone trying to institute change, I would say, "How clear is the metaphor?"](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-g-bennis/if-i-were-to-give-off-the-cuff-advice-to-anyone-trying-to-institute/) [Warren G. Bennis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-g-bennis/) > [“I'd say..." Petra crossed her legs, tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear. "I'd say, I am too fucking fabulous for one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/libba-bray/i-d-say-petra-crossed-her-legs-tucked-a-wayward-strand-of-hair-behind/) [Libba Bray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/libba-bray/) > [We need to change what we say and what we allow to be said in front of us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bren-brown/we-need-to-change-what-we-say-and-what-we-allow-to-be-said-in-front/) [Brené Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bren-brown/) > [Never change yourself for anyone. 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Pritchard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-pritchard/) > [I cannot say whether things will get better if we change; what I can say is they must change if they are to get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/i-cannot-say-whether-things-will-get-better-if-we-change-what-i-can/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) > [People say I change, and I say eff you! you didn't know me to begin with](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/people-say-i-change-and-i-say-eff-you-you-didn-t-know-me-to-begin-with/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Anybody who says that money don't change you - they only say that because they don't make enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curtis-jackson/anybody-who-says-that-money-don-t-change-you-they-only-say-that/) [Curtis Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/curtis-jackson/) ## 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 Acquiesce quotes > [There came a time when these two incompatible notions of who I was, well, something had to give. Either that 'something' is where you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-parker/there-came-a-time-when-these-two-incompatible-notions-of-who-i-was/) [Sean Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-parker/) > [Acceptance does not mean that you placidly acquiesce to the myriad injustices that are all around you. In fact, that you are incensed about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/srikumar-rao/acceptance-does-not-mean-that-you-placidly-acquiesce-to-the-myriad/) [Srikumar Rao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/srikumar-rao/) > [ Though \[the people\] may acquiesce, they cannot approve what they do not understand. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/though-the-people-may-acquiesce-they-cannot-approve-what-they-do-not/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Young parents in America are holy and not to be messed with. If they say something is correct, we all acquiesce. And is there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amity-shlaes/young-parents-in-america-are-holy-and-not-to-be-messed-with-if-they/) [Amity Shlaes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amity-shlaes/) > [“Simply to acquiesce in skepticism can never suffice to overcome the restlessness of reason.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/simply-to-acquiesce-in-skepticism-can-never-suffice-to-overcome-the/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) [Browse all 6 Acquiesce quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/acquiesce-3165/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "For one cannot change, that is to say become another person, while continuing to acquiesce to the feelings of the person one no longer is.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Marcel Proust" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/for-one-cannot-change-that-is-to-say-become-another-person-while/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Acquiesce" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/for-one-cannot-change-that-is-to-say-become-another-person-while/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b9/marcel-proust-114_change_for-one-cannot-change-that-is-to-say-bec_1800042.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b9/marcel-proust-114_change_for-one-cannot-change-that-is-to-say-bec_1800042.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b9/marcel-proust-114_change_for-one-cannot-change-that-is-to-say-bec_1800042.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“For one cannot change, that is to say become another person, while continuing to acquiesce to the feelings…” — 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 one cannot change, that is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/for-one-cannot-change-that-is-to-say-become-another-person-while/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/for-one-cannot-change-that-is-to-say-become-another-person-while/#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 } } ] } ```