--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Paradoxically, the freedom of Paris is…" description: "\"“Paradoxically, the freedom of Paris is associated with a persistent belief that nothing ever changes. Paris, they say, is the city that changes least...." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a2b/marguerite-duras-2040_change_paradoxically-the-freedom-of-paris-is-as_215682.jpg" --- # Paradoxically, the freedom of Paris is associated with a… ![“Paradoxically, the freedom of Paris is associated with a persistent belief that nothing ever changes. Paris, they say, is the city that changes least. After an absence of twenty or thirty years, one still recognizes it." ( Tourists in Paris )” quote by Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a2b/marguerite-duras-2040_change_paradoxically-the-freedom-of-paris-is-as_215682.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a2b/marguerite-duras-2040_change_paradoxically-the-freedom-of-paris-is-as_215682.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a2b/marguerite-duras-2040_change_paradoxically-the-freedom-of-paris-is-as_215682.jpg) > ““Paradoxically, the freedom of Paris is associated with a persistent belief that nothing ever changes. Paris, they say, is the city that changes least. After an absence of twenty or thirty years, one still recognizes it." ( Tourists in Paris )”” [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Paris feels timeless, yet its constancy is a paradox that masks subtle change over decades. **In simple terms:** Paris seems unchanging, but it slowly shifts. Key Takeaway Notice small changes in familiar places. Themes nostalgia city change perception Mood reflective melancholic Type observational philosophical When to use this quote - travel - long‑term residence - urban planning Key Concepts urban constancy cultural memory Questions to Reflect On - How do you reconcile familiarity with hidden change? - What signs of change have you missed? A Different Perspective Even if a city seems static, its history continues to evolve. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/london/) [Paris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paris/) ## Related quotes > [Paradoxically, the freedom of Paris is associated with a persistent belief that nothing ever changes. Paris, they say, is the city that changes least.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/paradoxically-the-freedom-of-paris-is-associated-with-a-persistent-2/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [Paris is a very exciting city. I learned about Paris the same way that Americans do: from the movies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woody-allen/paris-is-a-very-exciting-city-i-learned-about-paris-the-same-way-that/) [Woody Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woody-allen/) > [In London, theatregoers expect to laugh; in Paris, they wait grimly for proof that they should.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-dhery/in-london-theatregoers-expect-to-laugh-in-paris-they-wait-grimly-for/) Robert Dhery > [In each restaurant, I develop a different culinary sensibility. In Paris, I'm more classic, because that's what customers like. In Monaco, it's classic Mediterranean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-ducasse/in-each-restaurant-i-develop-a-different-culinary-sensibility-in/) [Alain Ducasse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-ducasse/) > [Paris is the only place where I feel that I lead a life that I can call my own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-juliet-buck/paris-is-the-only-place-where-i-feel-that-i-lead-a-life-that-i-can/) [Joan Juliet Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-juliet-buck/) > [Being a Parisian is not about being born in Paris, it is about being reborn there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sacha-guitry/being-a-parisian-is-not-about-being-born-in-paris-it-is-about-being/) [Sacha Guitry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sacha-guitry/) > [Moscow, Rome, London, Paris stay in place. Leningrad and New York float, spreading all their sails, cutting space with their prows, and can disappear,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-berberova/moscow-rome-london-paris-stay-in-place-leningrad-and-new-york-float/) [Nina Berberova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-berberova/) > [If you have ever walked in Paris, you will see that Paris will ever walk in your memoires!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/if-you-have-ever-walked-in-paris-you-will-see-that-paris-will-ever/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [I wasn't captivated by the romance of Paris or London. I love visiting, but I'd rather be in L.A.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-ruscha/i-wasn-t-captivated-by-the-romance-of-paris-or-london-i-love-visiting/) [Edward Ruscha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-ruscha/) > [I never rebel so much against France as not to regard Paris with a friendly eye; she has had my heart since my childhood...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/i-never-rebel-so-much-against-france-as-not-to-regard-paris-with-a/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [Paris has always seemed to me to be the only city in which one can live as one sees fit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-clifford-barney/paris-has-always-seemed-to-me-to-be-the-only-city-in-which-one-can/) [Natalie Clifford Barney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-clifford-barney/) > [I love New York City. The energy, the theatre, the art, the food, the people, the parks and streets. But I could say the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierce-brosnan/i-love-new-york-city-the-energy-the-theatre-the-art-the-food-the/) [Pierce Brosnan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierce-brosnan/) > [What an immense impression Paris made upon me. It is the most extraordinary place in the world!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/what-an-immense-impression-paris-made-upon-me-it-is-the-most/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [I love Paris.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-tomlinson/i-love-paris/) [Eleanor Tomlinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-tomlinson/) > [Rien ne se peut comparer a' Paris. Nothing can compare to Paris.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eustache-deschamps/rien-ne-se-peut-comparer-a-paris-nothing-can-compare-to-paris/) Eustache Deschamps ## More by Marguerite Duras > [Alcohol doesn't console, it doesn't fill up anyone's psychological gaps, all it replaces is the lack of God. It doesn't comfort man. On the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/alcohol-doesn-t-console-it-doesn-t-fill-up-anyone-s-psychological/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [I know it's not clothes that make women beautiful or otherwise, nor beauty care, nor expensive creams, nor the distinction of costliness of their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/i-know-it-s-not-clothes-that-make-women-beautiful-or-otherwise-nor/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [“And modern houses don't have passages, either, for children to play and run about in, and for dogs, umbrellas, coats and satchels. And don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/and-modern-houses-don-t-have-passages-either-for-children-to-play-and/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [When a woman drinks it's as if an animal were drinking, or a child. 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Love has to be lived fully with its boredom and all that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/in-love-there-are-no-vacations-no-such-thing-love-has-to-be-lived/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [“Très vite dans ma vie il a été trop tard.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/tr-s-vite-dans-ma-vie-il-a-t-trop-tard/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [“she can remember everyone admiring a rare kind of evening they spoke of as something they ought to save from oblivion to describe to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/she-can-remember-everyone-admiring-a-rare-kind-of-evening-they-spoke/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [All that remains of that minute is time in all its purity, bone-white time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/all-that-remains-of-that-minute-is-time-in-all-its-purity-bone-white/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [“─ No le conozco a usted. Nadie puede conocerle, ponerse en su lugar, usted no tiene lugar, no sabe dónde encontrar un lugar. Por…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/no-le-conozco-a-usted-nadie-puede-conocerle-ponerse-en-su-lugar-usted/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [She represents the un-vowed aspiration of the male human being, his potential infidelity - and infidelity of a very special kind, which would lead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/she-represents-the-un-vowed-aspiration-of-the-male-human-being-his/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [“I think it was during this journey that the image became detached, removed from all the rest. It might have existed, a photograph might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/i-think-it-was-during-this-journey-that-the-image-became-detached/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [“Among all the other nights upon nights, the girl had spent that one on the boat….when it happened, the burst of Chopin…. There wasn’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/among-all-the-other-nights-upon-nights-the-girl-had-spent-that-one-on/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [She says people ought to learn to live like them, with the body abandoned in a wilderness, and in the mind the memory of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/she-says-people-ought-to-learn-to-live-like-them-with-the-body/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) [Explore all 129 Marguerite Duras quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) ## 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 > [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. 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