--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Oh, my poor little hawthorns,\" I was…" description: "\"“Oh, my poor little hawthorns,\" I was assuring them through my sobs, \"it isn't you who want me to be unhappy, to force me to leave you. You, you've nev..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1fe/marcel-proust-114_blossom_oh-my-poor-little-hawthorns-i-was-assuri_2787848.jpg" --- # Oh, my poor little hawthorns," I was assuring them through… ![“Oh, my poor little hawthorns," I was assuring them through my sobs, "it isn't you who want me to be unhappy, to force me to leave you. You, you've never done me any harm. So I shall always love you." And, drying my eyes, I promised them that, when I grew up, I would never copy the foolish example…” quote by Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1fe/marcel-proust-114_blossom_oh-my-poor-little-hawthorns-i-was-assuri_2787848.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1fe/marcel-proust-114_blossom_oh-my-poor-little-hawthorns-i-was-assuri_2787848.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1fe/marcel-proust-114_blossom_oh-my-poor-little-hawthorns-i-was-assuri_2787848.jpg) > ““Oh, my poor little hawthorns," I was assuring them through my sobs, "it isn't you who want me to be unhappy, to force me to leave you. You, you've never done me any harm. So I shall always love you." And, drying my eyes, I promised them that, when I grew up, I would never copy the foolish example of other men, but that even in Paris, on fine spring days, instead of paying calls and listening to silly talk, I would set off for the country to see the first hawthorn-trees in bloom.”” [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. A tender promise to love and remain faithful, juxtaposed with a desire to escape urban superficiality for natural simplicity. **In simple terms:** Love and authenticity over societal pretenses. Key Takeaway Seek genuine love and simple joys. Themes love faithfulness nature urban vs rural promise Mood nostalgic reflective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - relationships - travel - self‑reflection Key Concepts romantic idealism personal growth Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance love with personal freedom? - What does “simple joy” mean to you? A Different Perspective Romantic idealism may ignore practical realities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Blossom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blossom/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) ## Related quotes > [“Oh, my poor little hawthorns,” I was assuring them through my sobs, “it is not you that want to make me unhappy, to force…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/oh-my-poor-little-hawthorns-i-was-assuring-them-through-my-sobs-it-is/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“Despite the heavy, motionless silence of the hawthorns, these gusts of fragrance came to me like the murmuring of an intense vitality, with which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/despite-the-heavy-motionless-silence-of-the-hawthorns-these-gusts-of/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [In hawthorn-time the heart grows light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/algernon-charles-swinburne/in-hawthorn-time-the-heart-grows-light/) [Algernon Charles Swinburne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/algernon-charles-swinburne/) > [The world is like a little marsh filled with mint and white hawthorn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/the-world-is-like-a-little-marsh-filled-with-mint-and-white-hawthorn/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [Hawthorn, white and odorous with blossom, framing the quiet fields, and swaying flowers and grasses, and the hum of bees.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-s-flint/hawthorn-white-and-odorous-with-blossom-framing-the-quiet-fields-and/) F. S Flint > [The Hawthorns has a good atmosphere, like many of the Premier League stadiums.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-anelka/the-hawthorns-has-a-good-atmosphere-like-many-of-the-premier-league/) [Nicolas Anelka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-anelka/) > [It's nice to come and play my football here at The Hawthorns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-gayle/it-s-nice-to-come-and-play-my-football-here-at-the-hawthorns/) [Dwight Gayle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-gayle/) > [“As though on a seedling whose blossoms ripen at different times, I had seen in old ladies, on that beach at Balbec, the dried-up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/as-though-on-a-seedling-whose-blossoms-ripen-at-different-times-i-had/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Desire makes everything blossom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/desire-makes-everything-blossom/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“Like wind and fire, water and soil, we used one another, to grow and blossom. Love was a dream, elusive as were we.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iva-hotko/like-wind-and-fire-water-and-soil-we-used-one-another-to-grow-and/) [Iva Hotko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iva-hotko/) > [I love Serge Lutens orange blossom perfume; my mom got it for me. It's my favorite. It just smells clean.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gia-coppola/i-love-serge-lutens-orange-blossom-perfume-my-mom-got-it-for-me-it-s/) [Gia Coppola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gia-coppola/) > [“Autumn had arrived— the last blossom whispered, let me stay awhile.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meeta-ahluwalia/autumn-had-arrived-the-last-blossom-whispered-let-me-stay-awhile/) [Meeta Ahluwalia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meeta-ahluwalia/) > [Am I accurately reporting what I see in such a blossom? The answer is no ... and yes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-lacy/am-i-accurately-reporting-what-i-see-in-such-a-blossom-the-answer-is/) [Allen Lacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-lacy/) > [I'm sure there was some part of his soul was intrinsically happy, but he probably had to go through some permutations to really get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-grant/i-m-sure-there-was-some-part-of-his-soul-was-intrinsically-happy-but/) [Jennifer Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-grant/) > [My first concert ever was my freshman year of high school, at Blossom, and it was Lil Wayne and Young Money. It was wild.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-nance-jr/my-first-concert-ever-was-my-freshman-year-of-high-school-at-blossom/) [Larry Nance, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-nance-jr/) ## 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 Blossom quotes > [My first concert ever was my freshman year of high school, at Blossom, and it was Lil Wayne and Young Money. It was wild.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-nance-jr/my-first-concert-ever-was-my-freshman-year-of-high-school-at-blossom/) [Larry Nance, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-nance-jr/) > [I'm sure there was some part of his soul was intrinsically happy, but he probably had to go through some permutations to really get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-grant/i-m-sure-there-was-some-part-of-his-soul-was-intrinsically-happy-but/) [Jennifer Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-grant/) > [Am I accurately reporting what I see in such a blossom? The answer is no ... and yes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-lacy/am-i-accurately-reporting-what-i-see-in-such-a-blossom-the-answer-is/) [Allen Lacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-lacy/) > [“Autumn had arrived— the last blossom whispered, let me stay awhile.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meeta-ahluwalia/autumn-had-arrived-the-last-blossom-whispered-let-me-stay-awhile/) [Meeta Ahluwalia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meeta-ahluwalia/) > [I love Serge Lutens orange blossom perfume; my mom got it for me. It's my favorite. It just smells clean.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gia-coppola/i-love-serge-lutens-orange-blossom-perfume-my-mom-got-it-for-me-it-s/) [Gia Coppola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gia-coppola/) > [“Like wind and fire, water and soil, we used one another, to grow and blossom. Love was a dream, elusive as were we.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iva-hotko/like-wind-and-fire-water-and-soil-we-used-one-another-to-grow-and/) [Iva Hotko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iva-hotko/) > [Fruits that blossom first will first be ripe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/fruits-that-blossom-first-will-first-be-ripe/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“This is BLOSSOM!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-brickley/this-is-blossom/) Katherine Brickley > [Labor is blossoming or dancing where The body is not bruised to pleasure soul, Nor beauty born out of its own despair, Nor blear-eyed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/labor-is-blossoming-or-dancing-where-the-body-is-not-bruised-to/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [Poetry is the silence and speech between a wet struggling root of a flower and a sunlit blossom of that flower.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sandburg/poetry-is-the-silence-and-speech-between-a-wet-struggling-root-of-a/) [Carl Sandburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sandburg/) > [“ A Blessing Just off the highway to Rochester, Minnesota, Twilight bounds softly forth on the grass. And the eyes of those two Indian…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-wright/a-blessing-just-off-the-highway-to-rochester-minnesota-twilight/) [James Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-wright/) > [Part of my personality is I like to have a good time and I'm an extrovert, and extroverts, they blossom as meathead frat boys…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bert-kreischer/part-of-my-personality-is-i-like-to-have-a-good-time-and-i-m-an/) [Bert Kreischer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bert-kreischer/) > [I would've preferred to blossom earlier in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-dean-stanton/i-would-ve-preferred-to-blossom-earlier-in-life/) [Harry Dean Stanton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-dean-stanton/) > [“it takes a village to build success in publishing a book - it takes friends that are willing to help - it takes hours…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rich-okun/it-takes-a-village-to-build-success-in-publishing-a-book-it-takes/) Rich Okun > [I'll have an awesome blossom, EXTRA awesome.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-scott/i-ll-have-an-awesome-blossom-extra-awesome/) [Michael Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-scott/) [Browse all 185 Blossom quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blossom/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Oh, my poor little hawthorns,\" I was assuring them through my sobs, \"it isn't you who want me to be unhappy, to force me to leave you. 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