Il n'y a pas une idée qui ne porte en elle sa réfutation possible, un mot, le mot contraire." - Meaning and context.">
There is no idea that does not carry in itself a possible refutation, no word that does not imply its opposite.
• Ch. II: "Mademoiselle de Forcheville"
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Il n'y a pas une idée qui ne porte en elle sa réfutation possible, un mot, le mot contraire.

— Marcel Proust

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Il n'y a pas une idée qui ne porte en elle sa réfutation possible, un mot, le mot contraire." in the context of "There is no idea that does not carry in itself a possible refutation, no word that does not imply its opposite.
• Ch. II: "Mademoiselle de Forcheville"" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "Marcel Proust" (Quotes, In Search of Lost Time / Remembrance of Things Past (1913-1927): À la recherche du temps perdu. [In Search of Lost Time — also translated as Remembrance of Things Past]; the first six volumes were translated by C. K. Scott-Moncrieff from 1922 to 1930, with a revised translation by Terence Kilmartin in 1981 and a further revision by D.J Enright in 1992. The seventh and final volume was translated by Frederick Blossom and published in 1932. Alternate translations provided as noted., Vol. VI: The Sweet Cheat Gone (1925): Albertine disparue. Also known as La fugitive) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Marcel Proust

About Marcel Proust

Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust (10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, essayist and critic.