--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is in moments of illness that we are…" description: "\"It is in moments of illness that we are compelled to recognize that we live not alone but chained to a creature of a different kingdom, whole worlds ap..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bce/marcel-proust-114_body_it-is-in-moments-of-illness-that-we-are_665121.jpg" --- # It is in moments of illness that we are compelled to… ![“It is in moments of illness that we are compelled to recognize that we live not alone but chained to a creature of a different kingdom, whole worlds apart, who has no knowledge of us and by whom it is impossible to make ourselves understood: our body.” quote by Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bce/marcel-proust-114_body_it-is-in-moments-of-illness-that-we-are_665121.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bce/marcel-proust-114_body_it-is-in-moments-of-illness-that-we-are_665121.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bce/marcel-proust-114_body_it-is-in-moments-of-illness-that-we-are_665121.jpg) > “It is in moments of illness that we are compelled to recognize that we live not alone but chained to a creature of a different kingdom, whole worlds apart, who has no knowledge of us and by whom it is impossible to make ourselves understood: our body.” [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. Illness reveals our dependence on a foreign, unknowable body that separates mind from self. **In simple terms:** Our bodies are alien to us. Key Takeaway Accept bodily limits, seek harmony. Themes mortality embodiment self-awareness Mood reflective introspective Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - medical diagnosis - aging - mental health counseling - athlete training - spiritual practice Key Concepts phenomenology existentialism Questions to Reflect On - How does recognizing bodily alienation change your self-care? - Can you view your body as a partner? A Different Perspective Our bodies can also be allies, not just obstacles. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Illness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illness/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [We live not alone but chained to a creature of a different kingdom: our body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/we-live-not-alone-but-chained-to-a-creature-of-a-different-kingdom/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“It is in sickness that we are compelled to recognise that we do not live alone but are chained to a being from a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/it-is-in-sickness-that-we-are-compelled-to-recognise-that-we-do-not/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“It is illness that makes us recognize that we do not live in isolation but are chained to a being from a different realm,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/it-is-illness-that-makes-us-recognize-that-we-do-not-live-in/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [But after a moment a sense of waste and ruin overcame him. 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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 Body quotes > [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. 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