--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In most women's lives, everything, even…" description: "\"“In most women's lives, everything, even the greatest sorrow, comes down to a question of 'I haven't got a thing to wear'.”\" — Marcel Proust" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e64/marcel-proust-114_clothes_in-most-women-s-lives-everything-even-th_1507151.jpg" --- # In most women's lives, everything, even the greatest… ![“In most women's lives, everything, even the greatest sorrow, comes down to a question of 'I haven't got a thing to wear'.” quote by Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e64/marcel-proust-114_clothes_in-most-women-s-lives-everything-even-th_1507151.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e64/marcel-proust-114_clothes_in-most-women-s-lives-everything-even-th_1507151.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e64/marcel-proust-114_clothes_in-most-women-s-lives-everything-even-th_1507151.jpg) > ““In most women's lives, everything, even the greatest sorrow, comes down to a question of 'I haven't got a thing to wear'.”” [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. Women often equate personal crisis with lack of suitable attire, reflecting deeper anxieties about self‑presentation. **In simple terms:** Clothes symbolize confidence and identity. Key Takeaway Address underlying insecurities, not just wardrobe. Themes identity self‑esteem consumerism gender roles Mood reflective empathetic Type observational cultural When to use this quote - shopping trips - wardrobe planning - public speaking - interview preparation Key Concepts social psychology fashion theory existential angst Questions to Reflect On - How does clothing affect your confidence? - What non‑material aspects define your self‑worth? A Different Perspective Focusing on clothing can mask deeper emotional needs. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Clothes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clothes/) [Sorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sorrow/) [Women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/women/) ## Related quotes > [In this sad world of ours, sorrow comes to all; and to the young, it comes with bitterest agony because it takes them unawares.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/in-this-sad-world-of-ours-sorrow-comes-to-all-and-to-the-young-it/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [“You can’t reject your sorrow, it always comes knocking when you least want it and it does bring enough reinforcements to wear you down.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-honovich/you-can-t-reject-your-sorrow-it-always-comes-knocking-when-you-least/) Patrick Honovich > [We have no right to ask when sorrow comes, Why did this happen to me? unless we ask the same question for every moment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-have-no-right-to-ask-when-sorrow-comes-why-did-this-happen-to-me/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You will see that the things you desire most are the very things that bring you the greatest sorrow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-will-see-that-the-things-you-desire-most-are-the-very-things-that/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Love is not only pure joy, and delight, but also great and deep heaviness of heart and sorrow. But love too is full of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/love-is-not-only-pure-joy-and-delight-but-also-great-and-deep/) [Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/) > [The greatest sorrow and burden you can lay on the Father, the greatest unkindness you can do to him is not to believe that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-owen/the-greatest-sorrow-and-burden-you-can-lay-on-the-father-the-greatest/) [John Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-owen/) > [To have, to love, and then to part, it is the greatest sorrow of the heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/unknow/to-have-to-love-and-then-to-part-it-is-the-greatest-sorrow-of-the/) Unknow > [ \[L\]ike thee to those in sorrow, Comes to bid a sweet good-morrow To the rough year just awake In its cradle on the brake.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/l-ike-thee-to-those-in-sorrow-comes-to-bid-a-sweet-good-morrow-to-the/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [Sorrow comes in great waves...but rolls over us, and though it may almost smother us, it leaves us. And we know that if it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-james/sorrow-comes-in-great-waves-but-rolls-over-us-and-though-it-may/) [Henry James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-james/) > [Through the senses, anger comes, and sorrow comes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/through-the-senses-anger-comes-and-sorrow-comes/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [“When sorrow comes, they come not single spies, but in battalions. I've allies in heaven, Jack, i've commrades in hell...say hello for me...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-o-barr/when-sorrow-comes-they-come-not-single-spies-but-in-battalions-i-ve/) [James O'Barr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-o-barr/) > [Whenever sorrow comes, be kind to it. For God has placed a pearl in sorrow’s hand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/whenever-sorrow-comes-be-kind-to-it-for-god-has-placed-a-pearl-in/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [But the morbidity of sorrow-not cultivated sorrow, but that which comes inevitably-is often a productive sluggishness, a time when the soul slows down, too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-g-wilson/but-the-morbidity-of-sorrow-not-cultivated-sorrow-but-that-which/) [Eric G. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-g-wilson/) > [To each his suff'rings; all are men, Condemn'd alike to groan,- The tender for another's pain, Th' unfeeling for his own. Yet ah! why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gray/to-each-his-suff-rings-all-are-men-condemn-d-alike-to-groan-the-2/) [Thomas Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gray/) > [When sorrow comes, then we do not welcome him \| but it will definitely leave happily](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/when-sorrow-comes-then-we-do-not-welcome-him-but-it-will-definitely/) Mak\_786 ## 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 Clothes quotes > [Personal Style comes from within. It's when the woman, her individuality and spirit come through. She uses clothes to express who she is and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-karan/personal-style-comes-from-within-it-s-when-the-woman-her/) [Donna Karan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-karan/) > [I don't own designer clothes, or a sports car, or a huge house, but I am seeing the world, experiencing amazing things, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roz-savage/i-don-t-own-designer-clothes-or-a-sports-car-or-a-huge-house-but-i-am/) [Roz Savage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roz-savage/) > [Boys and boys' body image and clothes have become just as important an issue for boys as for girls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosalind-wiseman/boys-and-boys-body-image-and-clothes-have-become-just-as-important-an/) [Rosalind Wiseman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosalind-wiseman/) > [The color of somebody's skin or the way he wears his hair or clothes has nothing to do with anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-color-of-somebody-s-skin-or-the-way-he-wears-his-hair-or-clothes/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I shot for French and British Vogue. The British Vogue one featured clothes by Chloe and was shot at Highgate and the John Soane…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nan-goldin/i-shot-for-french-and-british-vogue-the-british-vogue-one-featured/) [Nan Goldin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nan-goldin/) > [Nowadays most people wear black most of the time anyway: go to a literary party and one would imagine everyone there was in perpetual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-weldon/nowadays-most-people-wear-black-most-of-the-time-anyway-go-to-a/) [Fay Weldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-weldon/) > [Everyday happiness means getting up in the morning, and you can't wait to finish your breakfast. You can't wait to do your exercises. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-burns/everyday-happiness-means-getting-up-in-the-morning-and-you-can-t-wait/) [George Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-burns/) > [I design some of my own clothes now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiernan-shipka/i-design-some-of-my-own-clothes-now/) [Kiernan Shipka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiernan-shipka/) > [I know my hair is out of the '60's, my clothes are '50's and the shoes I wear are from the '40's. But I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dolly-parton/i-know-my-hair-is-out-of-the-60-s-my-clothes-are-50-s-and-the-shoes-i/) [Dolly Parton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dolly-parton/) > [Don't get too excited, but I'm naked under these clothes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikhil-saluja/don-t-get-too-excited-but-i-m-naked-under-these-clothes/) [Nikhil Saluja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikhil-saluja/) > [Downstairs in my house, I have a museum room. I keep all of my awards down there, and childhood photos, and even all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-kelly/downstairs-in-my-house-i-have-a-museum-room-i-keep-all-of-my-awards/) [R. Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-kelly/) > [My problems are sort of more on a nuisance level. I can't stand scratchy clothes, I've got to have soft kinds of cotton against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/temple-grandin/my-problems-are-sort-of-more-on-a-nuisance-level-i-can-t-stand/) [Temple Grandin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/temple-grandin/) > [“Take care of your costume and your confidence will take care of itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/take-care-of-your-costume-and-your-confidence-will-take-care-of-itself/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [When I was a kid, my parents were happy to buy me clothes; they provided for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-wooster/when-i-was-a-kid-my-parents-were-happy-to-buy-me-clothes-they/) [Nick Wooster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-wooster/) > [It's very important to me that I look good when I go out publicly. I like looking at my clothes rack in the morning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-wintour/it-s-very-important-to-me-that-i-look-good-when-i-go-out-publicly-i/) [Anna Wintour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-wintour/) [Browse all 4,888 Clothes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clothes/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“In most women's lives, everything, even the greatest sorrow, comes down to a question of 'I haven't got a thing to wear'.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Marcel Proust" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/in-most-women-s-lives-everything-even-the-greatest-sorrow-comes-down/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Clothes" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/in-most-women-s-lives-everything-even-the-greatest-sorrow-comes-down/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e64/marcel-proust-114_clothes_in-most-women-s-lives-everything-even-th_1507151.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e64/marcel-proust-114_clothes_in-most-women-s-lives-everything-even-th_1507151.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e64/marcel-proust-114_clothes_in-most-women-s-lives-everything-even-th_1507151.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In most women's lives, everything, even the greatest sorrow, comes down to a question of 'I haven't got a…” — 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": "“In most women's lives, everything, even...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/in-most-women-s-lives-everything-even-the-greatest-sorrow-comes-down/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/in-most-women-s-lives-everything-even-the-greatest-sorrow-comes-down/#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 } } ] } ```