--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We do not succeed in changing things…" description: "\"We do not succeed in changing things according to our desire, but gradually our desire changes. The situation that we hoped to change because it was in..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d60/marcel-proust-114_adversity_we-do-not-succeed-in-changing-things-acc_716148.jpg" --- # We do not succeed in changing things according to our… ![“We do not succeed in changing things according to our desire, but gradually our desire changes. The situation that we hoped to change because it was intolerable becomes unimportant. We have not managed to surmount the obstacle, as we were absolutely determined to do, but life has taken us round…” quote by Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d60/marcel-proust-114_adversity_we-do-not-succeed-in-changing-things-acc_716148.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d60/marcel-proust-114_adversity_we-do-not-succeed-in-changing-things-acc_716148.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d60/marcel-proust-114_adversity_we-do-not-succeed-in-changing-things-acc_716148.jpg) > “We do not succeed in changing things according to our desire, but gradually our desire changes. The situation that we hoped to change because it was intolerable becomes unimportant. We have not managed to surmount the obstacle, as we were absolutely determined to do, but life has taken us round it, led us past it, and then if we turn round to gaze at the remote past, we can barely catch sight of it, so imperceptible has it become.” [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. Desire shifts as circumstances change; obstacles may be bypassed, making former goals seem insignificant over time. **In simple terms:** Our wants change when life changes. Key Takeaway Accept that goals evolve. Themes change acceptance impermanence Mood reflective calm Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - career planning - relationship goals - political reform - personal habits Key Concepts philosophy psychology adaptation Questions to Reflect On - What desire has faded for you? - How can you adapt to new priorities? A Different Perspective Sometimes we must let go of ambitions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adversity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adversity/) [Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) [Change Intolerable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change-intolerable-5637285/) [Changing Things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/changing-things/) [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Desire Changes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire-changes-4725369/) [Determined](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/determined/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Obstacles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obstacles/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Rounds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rounds/) [Sight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sight/) [Situation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/situation/) [Succeed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/succeed/) [Succeed Changing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/succeed-changing-2867148/) [Taken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taken/) [Turns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/turns/) [Unimportant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unimportant/) ## Related quotes > [We do not succeed in changing things according to our desire, but gradually our desire changes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/we-do-not-succeed-in-changing-things-according-to-our-desire-but-2/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“We believe that we can change the things around us in accordance with our desires—we believe it because otherwise we can see no favourable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/we-believe-that-we-can-change-the-things-around-us-in-accordance-with-2/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [The only time a woman can really succeed in changing a man is when he is a baby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-wood/the-only-time-a-woman-can-really-succeed-in-changing-a-man-is-when-he/) [Natalie Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-wood/) > [“We believe that we can change the things around us in accordance with our desires—we believe it because otherwise we can see no favourable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/we-believe-that-we-can-change-the-things-around-us-in-accordance-with/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [O Lord God, we pray that we may be inspired to nobleness of life in the least things. May we dignify all our daily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/o-lord-god-we-pray-that-we-may-be-inspired-to-nobleness-of-life-in/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [I do so much revising as I go along; I wonder how I could write books if I hadn't grown up in the computer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-mccafferty/i-do-so-much-revising-as-i-go-along-i-wonder-how-i-could-write-books/) [Megan McCafferty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-mccafferty/) > [As soon as you start doing that - changing things - it seems self-evident to me that you've entered the world of make-believe. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/as-soon-as-you-start-doing-that-changing-things-it-seems-self-evident/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [“Of all the many changing things In dreary dancing past us whirled, To the cracked tune that Chronos sings, Words alone are certain good.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/of-all-the-many-changing-things-in-dreary-dancing-past-us-whirled-to/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [I can't remember who said, 'No film is completed, just abandoned,' but I think most filmmakers will tell you that they could endlessly fiddle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-w-s-anderson/i-can-t-remember-who-said-no-film-is-completed-just-abandoned-but-i/) [Paul W. S. Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-w-s-anderson/) > [When people with power see things happen of which they disapprove, they drop bombs and send in tanks. When people without power see things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-people-with-power-see-things-happen-of-which-they-disapprove/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Forever is a long long time and time has a way of changing things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-disney/forever-is-a-long-long-time-and-time-has-a-way-of-changing-things/) [Walt Disney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-disney/) > [There's a sense of knowing when to stop and take a break from things, to step back from the work you're making, and of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-fox/there-s-a-sense-of-knowing-when-to-stop-and-take-a-break-from-things/) [Dan Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-fox/) > [“The Song Of The Happy Shepherd The woods of Arcady are dead, And over is their antique joy; Of old the world on dreaming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/the-song-of-the-happy-shepherd-the-woods-of-arcady-are-dead-and-over/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [Changing things from the top down works when things are stable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-kelly/changing-things-from-the-top-down-works-when-things-are-stable/) [Kevin Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-kelly/) > [Changing is not just changing the things outside of us. First of all we need the right view that transcends all notions including of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/changing-is-not-just-changing-the-things-outside-of-us-first-of-all/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## 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 Adversity quotes > [We love playing together and we love adversity. You know, back-to-back, the two best teams in the East.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-nash/we-love-playing-together-and-we-love-adversity-you-know-back-to-back/) [Steve Nash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-nash/) > [When we have public success we also have private struggles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deion-sanders/when-we-have-public-success-we-also-have-private-struggles/) [Deion Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deion-sanders/) > [“The threats that resurfaced in the past 10 years were not an aberration. Al Qaeda and terrorism or one such threat, but it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-friedman/the-threats-that-resurfaced-in-the-past-10-years-were-not-an/) [George Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-friedman/) > [He who is content with what has been done is an obstacle in the path of progress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/he-who-is-content-with-what-has-been-done-is-an-obstacle-in-the-path/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [“Friction is necessary. Ease of life leads to complacency and the atrophy of the human will and spirit. Within our struggles lives our strength,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-versey/friction-is-necessary-ease-of-life-leads-to-complacency-and-the/) [Jason Versey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-versey/) > [“Every adversity is just another opportunity to excel a little more.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-templet/every-adversity-is-just-another-opportunity-to-excel-a-little-more/) [Michel Templet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-templet/) > [“Just because she doesn't talk about it, doesn't mean she isn't feeling it. She hurts, but she won't wear it on her sleeve. She…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfa-h/just-because-she-doesn-t-talk-about-it-doesn-t-mean-she-isn-t-feeling/) [Alfa H](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfa-h/) > [Every trial endured and weathered in the right spirit makes a soul nobler and stronger than it was before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-buckham-kennedy/every-trial-endured-and-weathered-in-the-right-spirit-makes-a-soul/) [James Buckham Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-buckham-kennedy/) > [Honesty, by evil fortune tried, Finds in adversity the seed of praise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/honesty-by-evil-fortune-tried-finds-in-adversity-the-seed-of-praise/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [“Struggles are not associated to a particular people or creed, everyone struggles, not for the same reasons, but each has a personal struggle at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-chirisa/struggles-are-not-associated-to-a-particular-people-or-creed-everyone/) [Wayne Chirisa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-chirisa/) > [“Watch a man in times of adversity to discover what kind of man he is; for then at last words of truth are drawn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucretius/watch-a-man-in-times-of-adversity-to-discover-what-kind-of-man-he-is/) [Lucretius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucretius/) > [God often hides His blessing in trouble or trial, which makes it all the sweeter when it comes our way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/god-often-hides-his-blessing-in-trouble-or-trial-which-makes-it-all/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [“Life is not about less mistakes but about more trials”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-e-sever/life-is-not-about-less-mistakes-but-about-more-trials/) [S.E. SEVER](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-e-sever/) > [Show your contempt for the problem and your concern for the person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rohn/show-your-contempt-for-the-problem-and-your-concern-for-the-person/) [Jim Rohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rohn/) > [When everything feels like an uphill struggle, just think of the view from the top.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-everything-feels-like-an-uphill-struggle-just-think-of-the-view/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 5,001 Adversity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adversity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We do not succeed in changing things according to our desire, but gradually our desire changes. The situation that we hoped to change because it was intolerable becomes unimportant. 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