--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It was fortunate that I had not already…" description: "\"“It was fortunate that I had not already yielded to the temptation to break with Albertine; the tedium of having to rejoin her presently, when I went h..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e5/marcel-proust-114_breaking-up_it-was-fortunate-that-i-had-not-already_821345.jpg" --- # It was fortunate that I had not already yielded to the… ![“It was fortunate that I had not already yielded to the temptation to break with Albertine; the tedium of having to rejoin her presently, when I went home, was a trifling matter compared with the anxiety that I should have felt if the separation had occurred when I still had a doubt about her and…” quote by Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e5/marcel-proust-114_breaking-up_it-was-fortunate-that-i-had-not-already_821345.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e5/marcel-proust-114_breaking-up_it-was-fortunate-that-i-had-not-already_821345.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e5/marcel-proust-114_breaking-up_it-was-fortunate-that-i-had-not-already_821345.jpg) > ““It was fortunate that I had not already yielded to the temptation to break with Albertine; the tedium of having to rejoin her presently, when I went home, was a trifling matter compared with the anxiety that I should have felt if the separation had occurred when I still had a doubt about her and before I had had time to grow indifferent to her.”” [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. The narrator reflects that the fear of losing a lover while still uncertain is worse than the boredom of staying together. **In simple terms:** Anxiety over potential loss outweighs routine togetherness. Key Takeaway Cherish relationships before doubt grows. Themes love anxiety certainty attachment Mood reflective melancholic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - marriage counseling - friendship maintenance - personal reflection - relationship therapy Key Concepts existentialism psychology romanticism Questions to Reflect On - How does uncertainty amplify emotional stakes? - What habits can reduce fear of loss? A Different Perspective If the relationship were already indifferent, the anxiety would be less intense. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Albertine Tedium](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/albertine-tedium-475652/) [Anxiety Felt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anxiety-felt-339851/) [Break Albertine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/break-albertine-475650/) [Breaking up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breaking-up/) [Divorce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/divorce/) [Indifference](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indifference/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Separation Occurred](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/separation-occurred-475651/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Yielded Temptation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yielded-temptation-475653/) ## Related quotes > [“...without knowing why, he yielded to the temptation of those lips and flung onto them, eating them, partaking of their sacrament... Eucharist of love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-rodenbach/without-knowing-why-he-yielded-to-the-temptation-of-those-lips-and/) [Georges Rodenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-rodenbach/) > [“I once asked you what anxiety felt like, and you told me that most days left you riddled with bullet holes. Every morning came…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-a-s/i-once-asked-you-what-anxiety-felt-like-and-you-told-me-that-most/) [d.a.s](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-a-s/) > [“I said those things and did those things because you'd hurt me," he continued, whispering just outside my ear. "And I wanted to hurt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-williams/i-said-those-things-and-did-those-things-because-you-d-hurt-me-he/) [Nicole Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-williams/) > [“Benny knew she was sounding very peculiar but conversation of any kind made her feel less anxious. 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So when they would laugh at my dysfunctions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-lewis/i-was-way-more-comfortable-in-front-of-strangers-than-i-was-in-front/) [Richard Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-lewis/) > [“Most nights I lay on my futon I was sick with anxiety, and felt a pit inside myself as big and empty as if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-golden/most-nights-i-lay-on-my-futon-i-was-sick-with-anxiety-and-felt-a-pit/) [Arthur Golden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-golden/) > [“The job he did kept his brain busy enough to cover up the anxiety; to distract him from his dark thoughts. 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"Hedonistic sloth and escapism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-finnamore/for-me-it-s-sloth-i-say-hedonistic-sloth-and-escapism/) [Suzanne Finnamore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-finnamore/) > [“To keep myself from harming or calling N and to stave off the rage and despair, I focus on my extraordinary son, drink midrange…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-finnamore/to-keep-myself-from-harming-or-calling-n-and-to-stave-off-the-rage/) [Suzanne Finnamore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-finnamore/) ## 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 Breaking up quotes > [“To keep myself from harming or calling N and to stave off the rage and despair, I focus on my extraordinary son, drink midrange…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-finnamore/to-keep-myself-from-harming-or-calling-n-and-to-stave-off-the-rage/) [Suzanne Finnamore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-finnamore/) > [“For me, it´s sloth," I say. 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