--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The time at our disposal each day is…" description: "\"The time at our disposal each day is elastic; the passions we feel dilate it, those that inspire us shrink it, and habit fills it.\" — Marcel Proust" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b12/marcel-proust-114_habit_the-time-at-our-disposal-each-day-is-ela_843616.jpg" --- # The time at our disposal each day is elastic; the passions… ![“The time at our disposal each day is elastic; the passions we feel dilate it, those that inspire us shrink it, and habit fills it.” quote by Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b12/marcel-proust-114_habit_the-time-at-our-disposal-each-day-is-ela_843616.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b12/marcel-proust-114_habit_the-time-at-our-disposal-each-day-is-ela_843616.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b12/marcel-proust-114_habit_the-time-at-our-disposal-each-day-is-ela_843616.jpg) > “The time at our disposal each day is elastic; the passions we feel dilate it, those that inspire us shrink it, and habit fills it.” [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. Time feels flexible; emotions expand or contract it, while habits fill it with routine. **In simple terms:** Emotions stretch or shrink our day. Key Takeaway Manage emotions and habits to shape time. Themes time perception emotion habit productivity psychology Mood reflective analytical Type philosophical self‑help When to use this quote - work scheduling - creative projects - stress management - daily routines Key Concepts cognitive science mindfulness behavioral economics Questions to Reflect On - Which habits consume your day? - How can emotions be harnessed to extend productivity? A Different Perspective Habits can dominate time, limiting freedom. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Day Elastic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/day-elastic-669366/) [Elastic Passions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elastic-passions-669362/) [Habit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/habit/) [Habit Fills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/habit-fills-669363/) [Habits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/habits/) [Inspire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspire/) [Passions Feel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passions-feel-669365/) [Shrink Habit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shrink-habit-669364/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [The time which we have at our disposal every day is elastic; the passions we feel expand it, those that we inspire contract it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/the-time-which-we-have-at-our-disposal-every-day-is-elastic-the/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“The blue sky, the brown soil beneath, the grass, the trees, the animals, the wind, and rain, and stars are never strange to me;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-henry-hudson/the-blue-sky-the-brown-soil-beneath-the-grass-the-trees-the-animals/) [William Henry Hudson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-henry-hudson/) > [I think it's important for fans to know that but if I'm doing something that inspires me musically then I think it will inspire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-cornell/i-think-it-s-important-for-fans-to-know-that-but-if-i-m-doing/) [Chris Cornell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-cornell/) > [So many people are passive participants in their very short time of having a consciousness, and those who aren't inspire me. 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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 Habit quotes > [I would drink gallons of coffee a day. 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