--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Things don't change, but by and by our…" description: "\"Things don't change, but by and by our wishes change.\" — Marcel Proust" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/06c/marcel-proust-114_change_things-don-t-change-but-by-and-by-our-wi_1648741.jpg" --- # Things don't change, but by and by our wishes change. ![“Things don't change, but by and by our wishes change.” quote by Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/06c/marcel-proust-114_change_things-don-t-change-but-by-and-by-our-wi_1648741.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/06c/marcel-proust-114_change_things-don-t-change-but-by-and-by-our-wi_1648741.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/06c/marcel-proust-114_change_things-don-t-change-but-by-and-by-our-wi_1648741.jpg) > “Things don't change, but by and by our wishes change.” [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. Desires evolve over time even when circumstances stay the same, highlighting personal growth. **In simple terms:** Wishes change, things stay same. Key Takeaway Notice how your goals shift. Themes change desire growth Mood nostalgic contemplative Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - long‑term planning - personal reflection - relationship dynamics Key Concepts human nature temporal perspective Questions to Reflect On - What have your wishes changed about recently? - How do you adapt to shifting desires? A Different Perspective Wishes may be fleeting, but underlying needs persist. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) [Change Wishes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change-wishes-631599/) [Don Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/don-change/) [Don't change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/don-t-change/) [Friendship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friendship/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Perspective](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perspective/) [Wish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wish/) [Wishes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wishes/) [Wishes Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wishes-change-631598/) ## Related quotes > [We believe we can change things according to our wishes because that's the only happy solution we can see. We don't think of what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/we-believe-we-can-change-things-according-to-our-wishes-because-that/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [No one is perfect and everyone wishes they could change something about themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-jones/no-one-is-perfect-and-everyone-wishes-they-could-change-something/) [Julia Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-jones/) > [The only wishes that will ever change you are the kind that may, at any moment, eat you whole.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janette-rallison/the-only-wishes-that-will-ever-change-you-are-the-kind-that-may-at/) [Janette Rallison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janette-rallison/) > [If you don't change your schedule, you'll be the same person you've always been.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hybels/if-you-don-t-change-your-schedule-you-ll-be-the-same-person-you-ve/) [Bill Hybels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hybels/) > [Be what you are. Don't change yourself for anything. God made you that way for a reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-edwards/be-what-you-are-don-t-change-yourself-for-anything-god-made-you-that/) [Anthony Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-edwards/) > [...there ain't no journey what don't change you some.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/there-ain-t-no-journey-what-don-t-change-you-some/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [That's the thing I'm learning about being thrown out on yer own. Nobody does nothing for you. If you don't change it, it don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-ness/that-s-the-thing-i-m-learning-about-being-thrown-out-on-yer-own/) [Patrick Ness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-ness/) > [people in great trouble don't change to other people. They only change to themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sinclair/people-in-great-trouble-don-t-change-to-other-people-they-only-change/) [May Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sinclair/) > [When we pray, we don't change the world, we change ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-naomi-remen/when-we-pray-we-don-t-change-the-world-we-change-ourselves/) [Rachel Naomi Remen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-naomi-remen/) > [Take all the rules away. How can we live if we don't change?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beyonce-knowles/take-all-the-rules-away-how-can-we-live-if-we-don-t-change/) [Beyonce Knowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beyonce-knowles/) > [Money don’t change you, it changes the people around you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bow-wow/money-don-t-change-you-it-changes-the-people-around-you/) [Bow Wow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bow-wow/) > [If you don't change, you will become extinct.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-johnson/if-you-don-t-change-you-will-become-extinct/) [Spencer Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-johnson/) > [We don't change as we get older - we just get to be more of what we've always been.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-d-chittister/we-don-t-change-as-we-get-older-we-just-get-to-be-more-of-what-we-ve/) [Joan D. Chittister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-d-chittister/) > [I don't change. The things around me change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-renner/i-don-t-change-the-things-around-me-change/) [Jeremy Renner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-renner/) > [If you talk about change but don't change the reward and recognition system, nothing changes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-allaire/if-you-talk-about-change-but-don-t-change-the-reward-and-recognition/) [Paul Allaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-allaire/) ## 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 Change quotes > [Only within yourself exists the other reality for which you long. I can give you nothing that has not already its being within yourself.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/only-within-yourself-exists-the-other-reality-for-which-you-long-i/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I can't believe that I'm sitting in meetings with Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Annette Bening. I want to take on that responsibility to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ross-williams/i-can-t-believe-that-i-m-sitting-in-meetings-with-steven-spielberg/) [Roger Ross Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ross-williams/) > [“…progress isn't necessarily about change but about things turning out as we want them to”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-hogan/progress-isn-t-necessarily-about-change-but-about-things-turning-out/) [Phil Hogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-hogan/) > [Nobody can tell me that no changes are necessary in Washington.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-weld/nobody-can-tell-me-that-no-changes-are-necessary-in-washington/) [William Weld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-weld/) > [If my campaign is not in the debate, we will not be talking about how we really fix this problem of endless and expanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/if-my-campaign-is-not-in-the-debate-we-will-not-be-talking-about-how/) [Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/) > [When you walk down the street of Kabul your values for life changes, they do change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-pierre-white/when-you-walk-down-the-street-of-kabul-your-values-for-life-changes/) [Marco Pierre White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-pierre-white/) > [Your world will change whether or not you choose to change, but you have the power to choose it's direction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/your-world-will-change-whether-or-not-you-choose-to-change-but-you/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) > [I hope I continue to evolve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-flair/i-hope-i-continue-to-evolve/) [Charlotte Flair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-flair/) > [“Stay focused on bringing people together and more on positive messaging so that you can be the change you wish to see in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/germany-kent/stay-focused-on-bringing-people-together-and-more-on-positive/) [Germany Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/germany-kent/) > [The biggest change for me as a mom was realizing I needed to put someone else before me. Now the hardest part about the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-alexis/the-biggest-change-for-me-as-a-mom-was-realizing-i-needed-to-put/) [Kim Alexis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-alexis/) > [“After the funeral, my life changed. I felt as if time were suddenly precious, water going down an open drain, and I could not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/after-the-funeral-my-life-changed-i-felt-as-if-time-were-suddenly/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [You practice mindfulness, on the one hand, to be calm and peaceful. On the other hand, as you practice mindfulness and live a life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-practice-mindfulness-on-the-one-hand-to-be-calm-and-peaceful-on/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Irish research will contribute to global progress and have the potential to help all countries realise the potential of their land sectors in addressing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enda-kenny/irish-research-will-contribute-to-global-progress-and-have-the/) [Enda Kenny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enda-kenny/) > [No man can change himself into anything from sheer reason; he can only change into what he potentially is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/no-man-can-change-himself-into-anything-from-sheer-reason-he-can-only/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) [Browse all 33,920 Change quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Things don't change, but by and by our wishes change.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Marcel Proust" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/things-don-t-change-but-by-and-by-our-wishes-change/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Change" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/things-don-t-change-but-by-and-by-our-wishes-change/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/06c/marcel-proust-114_change_things-don-t-change-but-by-and-by-our-wi_1648741.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/06c/marcel-proust-114_change_things-don-t-change-but-by-and-by-our-wi_1648741.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/06c/marcel-proust-114_change_things-don-t-change-but-by-and-by-our-wi_1648741.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Things don't change, but by and by our wishes change.” — 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": "Things don't change, but by and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/things-don-t-change-but-by-and-by-our-wishes-change/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/things-don-t-change-but-by-and-by-our-wishes-change/#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 } } ] } ```