--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: People who, not being in love themselves…" description: "\"People who, not being in love themselves, feel that a clever man should only be unhappy about a person who is worth his while; which is rather like bei..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/398/marcel-proust-114_being-in-love_people-who-not-being-in-love-themselves_1011636.jpg" --- # People who, not being in love themselves, feel that a… ![“People who, not being in love themselves, feel that a clever man should only be unhappy about a person who is worth his while; which is rather like being astonished that anyone should condescend to die of cholera at the bidding of so insignificant a creature as the comma bacillus.” quote by Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/398/marcel-proust-114_being-in-love_people-who-not-being-in-love-themselves_1011636.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/398/marcel-proust-114_being-in-love_people-who-not-being-in-love-themselves_1011636.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/398/marcel-proust-114_being-in-love_people-who-not-being-in-love-themselves_1011636.jpg) > “People who, not being in love themselves, feel that a clever man should only be unhappy about a person who is worth his while; which is rather like being astonished that anyone should condescend to die of cholera at the bidding of so insignificant a creature as the comma bacillus.” [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 speaker mocks those who think only the truly valuable deserve unhappiness, comparing it to absurd expectations of a tiny germ. **In simple terms:** People think only great things cause sorrow, which is absurd. Key Takeaway Question assumptions about worth and suffering. Themes irony value suffering perspective absurdity Mood wry thoughtful critical Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - relationships - literary analysis - personal reflection - health metaphors Key Concepts Existentialism social critique Questions to Reflect On - Do you judge suffering based on perceived worth? - How does language shape our view of pain? A Different Perspective The humor may downplay genuine emotional pain. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Being in love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being-in-love/) [Bidding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bidding/) [Cholera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cholera/) [Clever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clever/) [Clever man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clever-man/) [Condescend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/condescend/) [Condescend Die](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/condescend-die-2200490/) [Creatures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creatures/) [Feels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feels/) [Insignificant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insignificant/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Man Unhappy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-unhappy-754396/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Persons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/persons/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Unhappy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unhappy/) [Unhappy person](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unhappy-person/) ## Related quotes > [“With the wisdom of people not in love who believe a man of sense should be unhappy only over a person who is worth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/with-the-wisdom-of-people-not-in-love-who-believe-a-man-of-sense/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“Achille Adrien Proust, was a famous doctor and epidemiologist, responsible for studying and attempting to remedy the causes and movements of cholera through Europe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/achille-adrien-proust-was-a-famous-doctor-and-epidemiologist/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [People who are not in love fail to understand how an intelligent man can suffer because of a very ordinary woman. This is like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/people-who-are-not-in-love-fail-to-understand-how-an-intelligent-man/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Today in the west we are asking the question, why is man unhappy? Answer is very simple. We have created a very fast society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harbhajan-singh-yogi/today-in-the-west-we-are-asking-the-question-why-is-man-unhappy/) [Harbhajan Singh Yogi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harbhajan-singh-yogi/) > [No man is more unhappy than he who never faces adversity. For he is not permitted to prove himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/no-man-is-more-unhappy-than-he-who-never-faces-adversity-for-he-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Man is unhappy because he doesn't know he's happy. If anyone finds out he'll become happy at once.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/man-is-unhappy-because-he-doesn-t-know-he-s-happy-if-anyone-finds-out/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [A man is as unhappy as he has convinced himself he is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-man-is-as-unhappy-as-he-has-convinced-himself-he-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Nobody bores any man as much as an unhappy female.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moss-hart/nobody-bores-any-man-as-much-as-an-unhappy-female/) [Moss Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moss-hart/) > [Happy is the hearing man; unhappy the speaking man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/happy-is-the-hearing-man-unhappy-the-speaking-man/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [If you don't want a man unhappy politically, don't give him two sides to a question to worry him; give him one. Better yet,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/if-you-don-t-want-a-man-unhappy-politically-don-t-give-him-two-sides-2/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [If a man is unhappy, remember that his unhappiness is his own fault, for God made all men to be happy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/if-a-man-is-unhappy-remember-that-his-unhappiness-is-his-own-fault/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [“He was a complicated man, and an unhappy one. But he knew also that the world was full of simple miracles.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-macdonald/he-was-a-complicated-man-and-an-unhappy-one-but-he-knew-also-that-the/) [Helen Macdonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-macdonald/) > [What makes man most unhappy is to be deprived not of that which he had, but of that which he did not have, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-maritain/what-makes-man-most-unhappy-is-to-be-deprived-not-of-that-which-he/) [Jacques Maritain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-maritain/) > [“I would fave preferred the happy man to the unhappy poems he's left us”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/i-would-fave-preferred-the-happy-man-to-the-unhappy-poems-he-s-left-us/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [Dogs are happy with few things because they have already observed man who is unhappy with many things!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/dogs-are-happy-with-few-things-because-they-have-already-observed-man/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) ## 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 Being in love quotes > [If You Love Someone, Be Brave Enough To Tell Them., Otherwise Be Brave Enough To Watch Them To Be Loved By Someone Else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bilal-zahoor/if-you-love-someone-be-brave-enough-to-tell-them-otherwise-be-brave/) [Bilal Zahoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bilal-zahoor/) > [You'll know they're special when no matter what kind of mood you're in, they can always manage to make you smile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-tomasello/you-ll-know-they-re-special-when-no-matter-what-kind-of-mood-you-re/) [Mario Tomasello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-tomasello/) > [ONE stone enough to break a glass,,, ONE sentence is enough to break a heart,,, FIRST sight is enough to fall in love,,, ONE…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-stone-enough-to-break-a-glass-one-sentence-is-enough-to-break-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The one thing I absolutely hate about social media are the people who abuse it. Whenever I see a person who constantly posts negative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jazmin-garcia/the-one-thing-i-absolutely-hate-about-social-media-are-the-people-who/) [Jazmin Garcia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jazmin-garcia/) > [Don't turn your back on love when it's already in front of you. Don't drive it away from you, because If you do, someday,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jcalex-maneja/don-t-turn-your-back-on-love-when-it-s-already-in-front-of-you-don-t/) [Jcalex Maneja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jcalex-maneja/) > [Enough for this bow & arrow. It caused me nothing but sorrow. No need for another tomorrow. In your heart, I will never be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louaiq8/enough-for-this-bow-arrow-it-caused-me-nothing-but-sorrow-no-need-for/) [Louaiq8](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louaiq8/) > [I know we can't be together, and yes it hurts like hell...but I want you to be happy, cause I'm happy if you are…i'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/superman/i-know-we-can-t-be-together-and-yes-it-hurts-like-hell-but-i-want-you/) [Superman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/superman/) > [I be picking flower pedals saying does he love me or does he love me not... I just want to be that special someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angelica-perez/i-be-picking-flower-pedals-saying-does-he-love-me-or-does-he-love-me/) [Angelica Perez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angelica-perez/) > [You can't make someone love you, all you can do is be someone who can be loved ,the rest is up to the person…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-can-t-make-someone-love-you-all-you-can-do-is-be-someone-who-can/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Sometimes loving someone does not require a sense of knowing...Often times it's when you love someone without reason or explanation that it withstands the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mimi-mata-aspiring-writer/sometimes-loving-someone-does-not-require-a-sense-of-knowing-often/) [Mimi Mata (Aspiring Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mimi-mata-aspiring-writer/) > [You can never understand why people do stupid things for love, Unless you, yourself experience how it is to be in LOVE...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-can-never-understand-why-people-do-stupid-things-for-love-unless/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Sometimes all you need in life is someone who will always be there for you, no matter what happens to you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sometimes-all-you-need-in-life-is-someone-who-will-always-be-there/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > ['I Love You' fails to sum up all the memories, smiles, laughs, trials, and tribulations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raghib-clitso/i-love-you-fails-to-sum-up-all-the-memories-smiles-laughs-trials-and/) [Raghib Clitso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raghib-clitso/) > [Each day my love grows deeper, deeper than I never thought before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/each-day-my-love-grows-deeper-deeper-than-i-never-thought-before/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Whatever questions I ask, will you give me an honest answer? Do you love me? why do you blush look away and say no?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-rambharack/whatever-questions-i-ask-will-you-give-me-an-honest-answer-do-you/) [Glen Rambharack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-rambharack/) [Browse all 3,301 Being in love quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being-in-love/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "People who, not being in love themselves, feel that a clever man should only be unhappy about a person who is worth his while; which is rather like being astonished that anyone should condescend to die of cholera at the bidding of so insignificant a creature as the comma bacillus.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Marcel Proust" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/people-who-not-being-in-love-themselves-feel-that-a-clever-man-should/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Being in love" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/people-who-not-being-in-love-themselves-feel-that-a-clever-man-should/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/398/marcel-proust-114_being-in-love_people-who-not-being-in-love-themselves_1011636.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/398/marcel-proust-114_being-in-love_people-who-not-being-in-love-themselves_1011636.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/398/marcel-proust-114_being-in-love_people-who-not-being-in-love-themselves_1011636.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“People who, not being in love themselves, feel that a clever man should only be unhappy about a person who…” — 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": "People who, not being in love...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/people-who-not-being-in-love-themselves-feel-that-a-clever-man-should/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/people-who-not-being-in-love-themselves-feel-that-a-clever-man-should/#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 } } ] } ```