--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Hardly even does one think of oneself…" description: "\"“Hardly even does one think of oneself, but only how to escape from oneself.”\" — Marcel Proust" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/591/marcel-proust-114_quote_hardly-even-does-one-think-of-oneself-bu_956375.jpg" --- # Hardly even does one think of oneself, but only how to… ![“Hardly even does one think of oneself, but only how to escape from oneself.” quote by Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/591/marcel-proust-114_quote_hardly-even-does-one-think-of-oneself-bu_956375.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/591/marcel-proust-114_quote_hardly-even-does-one-think-of-oneself-bu_956375.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/591/marcel-proust-114_quote_hardly-even-does-one-think-of-oneself-bu_956375.jpg) > ““Hardly even does one think of oneself, but only how to escape from oneself.”” [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. Self‑reflection reveals a desire to escape one’s own identity, highlighting inner conflict. **In simple terms:** We often seek to flee our own selves. Key Takeaway Explore inner motivations rather than avoid them. Themes identity existentialism self‑awareness Mood introspective thoughtful Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - therapy - creative writing - mindfulness practice - spiritual quest Key Concepts psychology philosophy Questions to Reflect On - Why do we want to escape our own thoughts? - What does confronting self reveal? A Different Perspective Escaping oneself can hinder personal growth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Escape](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/escape/) [Escape Oneself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/escape-oneself-1043274/) [Hardly Does](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hardly-does-813927/) [Oneself Escape](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oneself-escape-1740098/) [Think Oneself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-oneself-387964/) ## Related quotes > [“To talk about another, pleasantly or viciously, is an escape from oneself, and escape is the cause of restlessness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/to-talk-about-another-pleasantly-or-viciously-is-an-escape-from/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [I believe one has to escape oneself to discover oneself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabih-alameddine/i-believe-one-has-to-escape-oneself-to-discover-oneself/) [Rabih Alameddine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabih-alameddine/) > [“Potentially, anyone writing on the Web can reach a global audience. In practice, hardly anyone ever does.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-cohen/potentially-anyone-writing-on-the-web-can-reach-a-global-audience-in/) [Nick Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-cohen/) > [Business, you know, may bring you money, but friendship hardly ever does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/business-you-know-may-bring-you-money-but-friendship-hardly-ever-does/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [Business, you know, may bring money, but friendship hardly ever does](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/business-you-know-may-bring-money-but-friendship-hardly-ever-does/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“The suffering of being imprisoned rests in the fact that it is impossible, at any time, to escape from oneself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kobo-abe/the-suffering-of-being-imprisoned-rests-in-the-fact-that-it-is/) [Kōbō Abe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kobo-abe/) > [Sometimes it is painful to be oneself; at other times it seems impossible to escape oneself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-franco/sometimes-it-is-painful-to-be-oneself-at-other-times-it-seems/) [James Franco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-franco/) > [“Violence is born of the desire to escape oneself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/violence-is-born-of-the-desire-to-escape-oneself/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [That is the whole trouble with being a heretic. 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She is this movement here, these steps, this turn, this raising of this arm. It's a waste of time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-howrey/this-is-who-she-is-she-is-this-movement-here-these-steps-this-turn/) [Meg Howrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-howrey/) > [One trouble: to be a professional anything in the United States is to think of oneself as an expert and one's ideas as semisacred,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marge-piercy/one-trouble-to-be-a-professional-anything-in-the-united-states-is-to/) [Marge Piercy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marge-piercy/) > [How one hates to think of oneself as alone. How one avoids it. It seems to imply rejection or unpopularity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/how-one-hates-to-think-of-oneself-as-alone-how-one-avoids-it-it-seems/) [Anne Morrow Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) ## 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 Escape quotes > [With multiplayer, permanent death, and an ever-changing world to explore and conquer, 'A Valley Without Wind' might be the place you're looking for if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-manuel/with-multiplayer-permanent-death-and-an-ever-changing-world-to/) [Rob Manuel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-manuel/) > [Growing up in Iceland, it was very beautiful, very safe, but quite isolated. 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You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-gehry/i-think-my-attitudes-about-the-past-are-very-traditional-you-can-t/) [Frank Gehry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-gehry/) > [Music and sleep are two of the greatest ways to escape from everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/music-and-sleep-are-two-of-the-greatest-ways-to-escape-from-everything/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Music is my escape from all the problems in life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kailin-cui/music-is-my-escape-from-all-the-problems-in-life/) [Kailin Cui](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kailin-cui/) > [Wherever you escape, the truth will find you! Always be prepared to meet with it!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/wherever-you-escape-the-truth-will-find-you-always-be-prepared-to/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“I think the best way to escape your head isn’t to think about things that aren’t real, it’s to think about things that are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-brooks/i-think-the-best-way-to-escape-your-head-isn-t-to-think-about-things/) [Ben Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-brooks/) > [“You could say she hid there, in the words, an escape within an escape...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aurelie-sheehan/you-could-say-she-hid-there-in-the-words-an-escape-within-an-escape/) [Aurelie Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aurelie-sheehan/) > [Life will drag us kicking and screaming to our destiny if we try to escape it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-villoldo/life-will-drag-us-kicking-and-screaming-to-our-destiny-if-we-try-to/) [Alberto Villoldo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-villoldo/) > [How did you escape? (Syd) I fought my way out in a manner that would have made Rambo proud. And when I got home…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/how-did-you-escape-syd-i-fought-my-way-out-in-a-manner-that-would/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [There are reasons people seek escape in books, and one of those reasons is that the boundary of what can happen is beyond what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-patterson/there-are-reasons-people-seek-escape-in-books-and-one-of-those/) [James Patterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-patterson/) > [“Well, I like to know where I'm going before I try to get there. 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