---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: recalling our life in the old days at…"
description: "\"“recalling our life in the old days at Combray with my great-aunt, at Balbec, Paris, Doncières, Venice, and the rest;”\" — Marcel Proust"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/54a/marcel-proust-114_aunt_recalling-our-life-in-the-old-days-at-co_2420472.jpg"
---

#  recalling our life in the old days at Combray with my…

![“recalling our life in the old days at Combray with my great-aunt, at Balbec, Paris, Doncières, Venice, and the rest;” quote by Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/54a/marcel-proust-114_aunt_recalling-our-life-in-the-old-days-at-co_2420472.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/54a/marcel-proust-114_aunt_recalling-our-life-in-the-old-days-at-co_2420472.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/54a/marcel-proust-114_aunt_recalling-our-life-in-the-old-days-at-co_2420472.jpg)

> ““recalling our life in the old days at Combray with my great-aunt, at Balbec, Paris, Doncières, Venice, and the rest;””

[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.

Reminiscing about past places and people evokes vivid memories that shape identity.

**In simple terms:** Recalling past places and people.

Key Takeaway

Reflect on how memories influence who you are.

Themes

memory nostalgia identity travel family

Mood

reflective melancholic nostalgic

Type

literary philosophical

When to use this quote

- writing memoirs
- family gatherings
- travel planning
- heritage tours

Key Concepts

psychology literary reflection temporal perception

Questions to Reflect On

- Which past experience still colors your present decisions?
- How do you balance nostalgia with living now?

A Different Perspective

Memories can be idealized, obscuring present reality.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Great aunt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-aunt/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/)

## Related quotes

> [ The disinterest \[of my two great-aunts\] in anything that had to do with high society was such that their sense of hearing ... put… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/the-disinterest-of-my-two-great-aunts-in-anything-that-had-to-do-with/)

[Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/)

> [There's a great Anton Chekhov quote. He says, "The Russian loves recalling life, but he does not love living." That scene has always been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-orner/there-s-a-great-anton-chekhov-quote-he-says-the-russian-loves/)

[Peter Orner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-orner/)

> [“Quin took on the air of someone who has just realized it's time for the yearly visit to the spinster great-aunt in a desperate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-fecteau/quin-took-on-the-air-of-someone-who-has-just-realized-it-s-time-for/)

[Amy Fecteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-fecteau/)

> [I was raised by my great-great aunt. I was adopted within our family. My mother had me when she was, I think, 15, 16.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-dickerson/i-was-raised-by-my-great-great-aunt-i-was-adopted-within-our-family/)

[Eric Dickerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-dickerson/)

> [My dad was a keen actor when he was young; my auntie is heavily involved in amateur dramatics back in Northern Ireland, and my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-dornan/my-dad-was-a-keen-actor-when-he-was-young-my-auntie-is-heavily/)

[Jamie Dornan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-dornan/)

> [From age 23 to 44 - I'm 45 now - I was always in need of money, and I was especially in need of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-ames/from-age-23-to-44-i-m-45-now-i-was-always-in-need-of-money-and-i-was/)

[Jonathan Ames](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-ames/)

> [“Poor thing. If she wasn’t being thrown into trees or attacked by his kin, she was being mystically flung to the ground by his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-a-aiken/poor-thing-if-she-wasn-t-being-thrown-into-trees-or-attacked-by-his/)

[G.A. Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-a-aiken/)

> [My great-aunt. . . . said nobody under 18 had any business reading Dickens. . . . She was right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/my-great-aunt-said-nobody-under-18-had-any-business-reading-dickens/)

[Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/)

> [Cuddling was for great aunts and teddy bears. Cuddling gave him cramp.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-nicholls/cuddling-was-for-great-aunts-and-teddy-bears-cuddling-gave-him-cramp/)

[David Nicholls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-nicholls/)

> [“There you are at last, girl,” said Great Aunt Sullana. “Your hair looks as though beavers had abandoned a dam there. Your face is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tara-maya/there-you-are-at-last-girl-said-great-aunt-sullana-your-hair-looks-as/)

[Tara Maya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tara-maya/)

> [I got into cooking just by watching my mom and my aunts and my great-aunts and actually one of my cousins who has her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-rowland/i-got-into-cooking-just-by-watching-my-mom-and-my-aunts-and-my-great/)

[Kelly Rowland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-rowland/)

> [Why is it so much easier to talk to a stranger? why do we feel we need to disconnect in order to connect? If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/why-is-it-so-much-easier-to-talk-to-a-stranger-why-do-we-feel-we-need/)

[David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/)

> [“He bowed politely to Hortense, who tipped her head toward the elderly gray-haired lady beside her, who seemed to be dozing, her head drooping…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/he-bowed-politely-to-hortense-who-tipped-her-head-toward-the-elderly/)

[Judith McNaught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-mcnaught/)

> [You'd think that would have been forgotten long ago. But no, no sooner has a little grass grown over it than some clumsy camel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerstin-gier/you-d-think-that-would-have-been-forgotten-long-ago-but-no-no-sooner/)

[Kerstin Gier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerstin-gier/)

> [Imagine that you wanted your children to learn the names of all their cousins, aunts and uncles. But you never actually let them meet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-x-foley/imagine-that-you-wanted-your-children-to-learn-the-names-of-all-their/)

Brian X. Foley

## 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 Aunt quotes

> [“My aunt Carol hasn’t heard her say a word in the whole six years and three months of Grace’s life—not a single syllable. Carol…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/my-aunt-carol-hasn-t-heard-her-say-a-word-in-the-whole-six-years-and/)

[Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/)

> [Your aunt and uncle will be proud, though, won't they?" said Hermione as they got off the train and joined the crowd thronging toward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/your-aunt-and-uncle-will-be-proud-though-won-t-they-said-hermione-as/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [I was painfully shy, so my aunt suggested to my mum that me and my brother go to Stage 84, a performing arts school…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-cooke/i-was-painfully-shy-so-my-aunt-suggested-to-my-mum-that-me-and-my/)

[Christian Cooke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-cooke/)

> [“Quin took on the air of someone who has just realized it's time for the yearly visit to the spinster great-aunt in a desperate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-fecteau/quin-took-on-the-air-of-someone-who-has-just-realized-it-s-time-for/)

[Amy Fecteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-fecteau/)

> [My aunt and uncle are clearly civilians.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-kimmel/my-aunt-and-uncle-are-clearly-civilians/)

[Jimmy Kimmel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-kimmel/)

> [“Aunt Helen Beck had many intentions about her death. She was about being dead the way some people are about being British - she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-mccracken/aunt-helen-beck-had-many-intentions-about-her-death-she-was-about/)

[Elizabeth McCracken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-mccracken/)

> [I'll just do a round around of the house and make sure the rest of the family are fast asleep. We don't want that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerstin-gier/i-ll-just-do-a-round-around-of-the-house-and-make-sure-the-rest-of/)

[Kerstin Gier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerstin-gier/)

> [In the summer of 1964, my sister and I went to South Ballston, Virginia, to stay with my aunt and her kids. They passed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-p-jones/in-the-summer-of-1964-my-sister-and-i-went-to-south-ballston-virginia/)

[Edward P. Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-p-jones/)

> [“I look like Barbara Bush in drag." Aunt Jettie”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-harper/i-look-like-barbara-bush-in-drag-aunt-jettie/)

[Molly Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molly-harper/)

> [I only wanted Uncle Vernon standing by his own car (a Hudson) on a clear day, I got him and the car. Ialso got…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-friedlander/i-only-wanted-uncle-vernon-standing-by-his-own-car-a-hudson-on-a/)

[Lee Friedlander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-friedlander/)

> [Both the five-year-olds looked at me with bewilderment and a bit of fearful uncertainty. I had a sudden horrifying image of the woman I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gilbert/both-the-five-year-olds-looked-at-me-with-bewilderment-and-a-bit-of/)

[Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/)

> [My aunt got me interested in journalism - she found an old typewriter, had it worked over, put it on the dining room table,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-jenkins/my-aunt-got-me-interested-in-journalism-she-found-an-old-typewriter/)

[Dan Jenkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-jenkins/)

> [This kind of thing always amazed Ginny--people who just walked away from institutions. People who left school when they didn't see the point. Aunt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-johnson/this-kind-of-thing-always-amazed-ginny-people-who-just-walked-away/)

[Maureen Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-johnson/)

> [“You will not be able to shelter her forever,” my aunt insists. “What will happen when you are gone someday, and all the suitable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-forest/you-will-not-be-able-to-shelter-her-forever-my-aunt-insists-what-will/)

[Laurie Forest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-forest/)

> [my sweet old etcetera aunt lucy during the recent war could and what is more did tell you just what everybody was fighting for,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/my-sweet-old-etcetera-aunt-lucy-during-the-recent-war-could-and-what/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

Browse all 720 Aunt quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“recalling our life in the old days at Combray with my great-aunt, at Balbec, Paris, Doncières, Venice, and the rest;”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Marcel Proust"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/recalling-our-life-in-the-old-days-at-combray-with-my-great-aunt-at/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Aunt"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/recalling-our-life-in-the-old-days-at-combray-with-my-great-aunt-at/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/54a/marcel-proust-114_aunt_recalling-our-life-in-the-old-days-at-co_2420472.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/54a/marcel-proust-114_aunt_recalling-our-life-in-the-old-days-at-co_2420472.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/54a/marcel-proust-114_aunt_recalling-our-life-in-the-old-days-at-co_2420472.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“recalling our life in the old days at Combray with my great-aunt, at Balbec, Paris, Doncières, Venice, and…” — 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": "“recalling our life in the old...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/recalling-our-life-in-the-old-days-at-combray-with-my-great-aunt-at/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/recalling-our-life-in-the-old-days-at-combray-with-my-great-aunt-at/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
