--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Our memory is like a shop in the window…" description: "\"Our memory is like a shop in the window of which is exposed now one, now another photograph of the same person. And as a rule the most recent exhibit r..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/74b/marcel-proust-114_exposed_our-memory-is-like-a-shop-in-the-window_1769767.jpg" --- # Our memory is like a shop in the window of which is… ![“Our memory is like a shop in the window of which is exposed now one, now another photograph of the same person. And as a rule the most recent exhibit remains for some time the only one to be seen.” quote by Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/74b/marcel-proust-114_exposed_our-memory-is-like-a-shop-in-the-window_1769767.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/74b/marcel-proust-114_exposed_our-memory-is-like-a-shop-in-the-window_1769767.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/74b/marcel-proust-114_exposed_our-memory-is-like-a-shop-in-the-window_1769767.jpg) > “Our memory is like a shop in the window of which is exposed now one, now another photograph of the same person. And as a rule the most recent exhibit remains for some time the only one to be seen.” [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. Memory displays recent images prominently, while older recollections fade, like shop window displays that change over time. **In simple terms:** We remember recent events more clearly than older ones. Key Takeaway Acknowledge the bias toward recent memories. Themes memory time perception Mood nostalgic thoughtful Type philosophical psychological When to use this quote - personal reflection - historical research - family storytelling - archival work Key Concepts cognitive bias nostalgia Questions to Reflect On - How do you preserve older memories? - What recent events dominate your thoughts? A Different Perspective Older memories can still influence us subtly. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Memories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memories/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography/) ## Related quotes > [Every day I'll wear your memory like a favorite shirt upon my back](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-thompson/every-day-i-ll-wear-your-memory-like-a-favorite-shirt-upon-my-back/) [Richard Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-thompson/) > [I see a schoolboy when I think of him, With face and nose pressed to a sweet-shop window.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/i-see-a-schoolboy-when-i-think-of-him-with-face-and-nose-pressed-to-a/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [We are able to find everything in our memory, which is like a dispensary or chemical laboratory in which chance steers our hand sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/we-are-able-to-find-everything-in-our-memory-which-is-like-a/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [More and more department stores are acting as the shop window for a range of retailers now, using space more efficiently to recreate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuka-umunna/more-and-more-department-stores-are-acting-as-the-shop-window-for-a/) [Chuka Umunna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuka-umunna/) > [Godspell was a good leap for me, it was a good shop window.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-irons/godspell-was-a-good-leap-for-me-it-was-a-good-shop-window/) [Jeremy Irons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-irons/) > [“You were. You are The brightest thing in the shop window And the most beautiful seldom I ever saw”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-jo-bang/you-were-you-are-the-brightest-thing-in-the-shop-window-and-the-most/) [Mary Jo Bang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-jo-bang/) > [When you see a man with a great deal of religion displayed in his shop window, you may depend upon it he keeps a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-you-see-a-man-with-a-great-deal-of-religion-displayed-in-his/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I will go to my grave believing that participation is best driven by the well-stocked shop window.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-coe/i-will-go-to-my-grave-believing-that-participation-is-best-driven-by/) [Sebastian Coe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-coe/) > [Buy, buy, says the sign in the shop window; Why, why, says the junk in the yard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-mccartney/buy-buy-says-the-sign-in-the-shop-window-why-why-says-the-junk-in-the/) [Paul McCartney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-mccartney/) > [The moments of the past do not remain still; they retain in our memory the motion which drew them towards the future, towards a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/the-moments-of-the-past-do-not-remain-still-they-retain-in-our-memory/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [The images selected by memory are as arbitrary, as narrow, as elusive as those which the imagination had formed and reality has destroyed. There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/the-images-selected-by-memory-are-as-arbitrary-as-narrow-as-elusive/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [That translucent alabaster of our memories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/that-translucent-alabaster-of-our-memories/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Even though our lives wander, our memories remain in one place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/even-though-our-lives-wander-our-memories-remain-in-one-place/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [We exist only by virtue of what we possess, we possess only what is really present to us, and many of our memories, our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/we-exist-only-by-virtue-of-what-we-possess-we-possess-only-what-is/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [After a certain age our memories are so intertwined with one another that what we are thinking of, the book we are reading, scarcely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/after-a-certain-age-our-memories-are-so-intertwined-with-one-another/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) ## 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 Exposed quotes > [A human being can only absorb a small amount of the mystical kundalini, you can be exposed again and again to it, but it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/a-human-being-can-only-absorb-a-small-amount-of-the-mystical/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Mortals are such fragile things. Just tender feelings walking around exposed in their delicate shells...Easy to crush.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-marr/mortals-are-such-fragile-things-just-tender-feelings-walking-around/) [Melissa Marr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-marr/) > [We do not know which irresponsible Israeli prime minister will take office and decide to use nuclear weapons in the struggle against neighboring Arab…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mordechai-vanunu/we-do-not-know-which-irresponsible-israeli-prime-minister-will-take/) [Mordechai Vanunu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mordechai-vanunu/) > [A painter should begin every canvas with a wash of black, because all things in nature are dark except where exposed by the light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/a-painter-should-begin-every-canvas-with-a-wash-of-black-because-all/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [Photojournalists know the horrors of war can only be exposed at close range. Kodak Film.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-nachtwey/photojournalists-know-the-horrors-of-war-can-only-be-exposed-at-close/) [James Nachtwey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-nachtwey/) > [I was in Vietnam, and I was exposed to Agent Orange. And there's a high relationship between people that were exposed to Agent Orange…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hamilton-jordan/i-was-in-vietnam-and-i-was-exposed-to-agent-orange-and-there-s-a-high/) [Hamilton Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hamilton-jordan/) > [The headline here is not that a woman exposed a breast. It is, rather, that a breast exposed a woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-pitts/the-headline-here-is-not-that-a-woman-exposed-a-breast-it-is-rather/) [Leonard Pitts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-pitts/) > [Trayvon exposed a lot of things. I think something positive will come out of it. It's a blessing in disguise. And he will never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walshy-fire/trayvon-exposed-a-lot-of-things-i-think-something-positive-will-come/) [Walshy Fire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walshy-fire/) > [Since the recording process is instantaneous, and the nature of the image such that it cannot survive corrective handwork, it is obvious that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-weston/since-the-recording-process-is-instantaneous-and-the-nature-of-the/) [Edward Weston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-weston/) > [Politicians can forgive almost anything in the way of abuse; they can forgive subversion, revolution, being contradicted, exposed as liars, even ridiculed, but they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/auberon-waugh/politicians-can-forgive-almost-anything-in-the-way-of-abuse-they-can/) [Auberon Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/auberon-waugh/) > [When I resigned, I put the U.S. Government on notice that I'm going to stick to policy issues, that I have no intention of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-ritter/when-i-resigned-i-put-the-u-s-government-on-notice-that-i-m-going-to/) [Scott Ritter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-ritter/) > [I think clarity is the real risk in poetry because you are exposed. You're out in the open field. You're actually saying things that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/i-think-clarity-is-the-real-risk-in-poetry-because-you-are-exposed/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [I was lucky that I was getting exposed to a lot of different kinds of films, and I was liking them all. So it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-soderbergh/i-was-lucky-that-i-was-getting-exposed-to-a-lot-of-different-kinds-of/) [Steven Soderbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-soderbergh/) > [Because of what I've chosen to do for my work in the world, almost every time that there's something that I'm afraid to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/india-arie-2/because-of-what-i-ve-chosen-to-do-for-my-work-in-the-world-almost/) [India.Arie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/india-arie-2/) > [My ma and pa are both very artistic, so I suppose it's in my blood. But my ma's the one who was into theater…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grey-damon/my-ma-and-pa-are-both-very-artistic-so-i-suppose-it-s-in-my-blood-but/) [Grey Damon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grey-damon/) Browse all 973 Exposed quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Our memory is like a shop in the window of which is exposed now one, now another photograph of the same person. 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