--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: She was capable of causing me pain, but…" description: "\"“She was capable of causing me pain, but no longer any joy. Pain alone kept my wearisome attachment alive.”\" — Marcel Proust" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f96/marcel-proust-114_albertine_she-was-capable-of-causing-me-pain-but-n_474082.jpg" --- # She was capable of causing me pain, but no longer any joy… ![“She was capable of causing me pain, but no longer any joy. Pain alone kept my wearisome attachment alive.” quote by Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f96/marcel-proust-114_albertine_she-was-capable-of-causing-me-pain-but-n_474082.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f96/marcel-proust-114_albertine_she-was-capable-of-causing-me-pain-but-n_474082.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f96/marcel-proust-114_albertine_she-was-capable-of-causing-me-pain-but-n_474082.jpg) > ““She was capable of causing me pain, but no longer any joy. Pain alone kept my wearisome attachment alive.”” [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. He reflects that pain sustains his lingering attachment, while joy has vanished. **In simple terms:** Pain keeps his attachment alive, not joy. Key Takeaway Seek healing beyond pain to restore joy. Themes attachment pain loss joy Mood melancholic introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - relationships - grief - personal reflection Key Concepts emotional dependence psychological suffering memory Questions to Reflect On - Can attachment survive without pain? - What restores joy in relationships? A Different Perspective May suggest suffering is necessary for connection. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Albertine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/albertine-5615/) [Causing pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/causing-pain/) [Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joy/) [Joy Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joy-pain-342641/) [Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain/) [Pain Kept](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain-kept-364979/) [Pain Longer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain-longer-1809930/) ## Related quotes > [“Her blue, almond-shaped eyes - now even more elongated - had altered in appearance; they were indeed of the same colour, but seemed to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/her-blue-almond-shaped-eyes-now-even-more-elongated-had-altered-in/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [The moment when you cant bare the pain no longer…but yet it continues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-moment-when-you-cant-bare-the-pain-no-longer-but-yet-it-continues/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I don't think any of us can speak frankly about pain until we are no longer enduring it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-golden/i-don-t-think-any-of-us-can-speak-frankly-about-pain-until-we-are-no/) [Arthur Golden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-golden/) > [I dont think any of us can speak frankly about pain until we are no longer enduring it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-golden/i-dont-think-any-of-us-can-speak-frankly-about-pain-until-we-are-no/) [Arthur Golden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-golden/) > [“Pain will no longer be our curse, Molly”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosalie-ham/pain-will-no-longer-be-our-curse-molly/) [Rosalie Ham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosalie-ham/) > [Everything else has found a way to let me go. I suppose pain is a longer process..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melchor-lim/everything-else-has-found-a-way-to-let-me-go-i-suppose-pain-is-a/) [Melchor Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melchor-lim/) > [Pain is no longer pain when it is past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-junkin-preston/pain-is-no-longer-pain-when-it-is-past/) [Margaret Junkin Preston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-junkin-preston/) > [“Pain was no longer a mystery to him, and a man familiar with pain has entered a new kind of freedom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aimee-bender/pain-was-no-longer-a-mystery-to-him-and-a-man-familiar-with-pain-has/) [Aimee Bender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aimee-bender/) > [He left her. She was dissatisfied with him. He had preferred to incur her anger rather than cause her pain. He had kept all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/he-left-her-she-was-dissatisfied-with-him-he-had-preferred-to-incur/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Souraya thought those days that she knew so many songs about the misery of love because pain kept love within the boundaries of time,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-storace/souraya-thought-those-days-that-she-knew-so-many-songs-about-the/) [Patricia Storace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-storace/) > [Jennifer had never liked the pain of remembering what had happened, but for Theo it was the pain that kept Laura alive in his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/jennifer-had-never-liked-the-pain-of-remembering-what-had-happened/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) > [“Why are the most painful memories also the sweetest; why does the sweetness always draw us back no matter how long the pain might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-eisler/why-are-the-most-painful-memories-also-the-sweetest-why-does-the/) [Barry Eisler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-eisler/) > [My story goes like this. My parent would fight every second of the day. I would lock myself in my room and try to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/my-story-goes-like-this-my-parent-would-fight-every-second-of-the-day/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [In a practical sense, pain kept me from sitting down as much, so that sometimes I would have to stand to write. Not that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-tillman/in-a-practical-sense-pain-kept-me-from-sitting-down-as-much-so-that/) [Lynne Tillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-tillman/) > [“But trouble and pain were what kept a man alive. Or trying to avoid trouble and pain. It was a full time job.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/but-trouble-and-pain-were-what-kept-a-man-alive-or-trying-to-avoid/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) ## 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 Albertine quotes > [“Her blue, almond-shaped eyes - now even more elongated - had altered in appearance; they were indeed of the same colour, but seemed to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/her-blue-almond-shaped-eyes-now-even-more-elongated-had-altered-in/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) [Browse all 2 Albertine quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/albertine-5615/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“She was capable of causing me pain, but no longer any joy. 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