The Quotation Of The Day Mailing List
Quotation of the Day for November 29, 2003
But on matters of which the rules and principles had been taught her by her mother, on the way to cook certain dishes, to play the sonatas of Beethoven, and to receive guests graciously, she was certain of having a just idea of perfection and of discerning whether others approached closely or not. For all three things, besides, the perfection was almost the same: it was a sort of simplicity of means, of sobriety and of charm. She reacted with horror at putting spices in a dish where they were not absolutely needed, playing with affectation and too much pedal, or going beyond the bounds of what was perfectly natural when "receiving" and speaking of oneself with exaggeration. From the first mouthful, the first notes, a simple letter, she claimed to know if she was dealing with a good cook, a real musician, a well-bred woman. "She might have much more technique than I do, but she lacks taste, playing so simple an andante in such a grandiloquent manner." "She might be a brilliant woman, full of qualities, but it is tactless to speak about oneself in these circumstances." "She might be a learned cook, but she does not know how to make a steak with potatoes." Steak with potatoes! the ideal competition piece, difficult because of its simplicity, a sort of Sonata Pathétique of cuisine...
- Marcel Proust, on his great-aunt, from his preface to a translation of Sesame And Lilies by John Ruskin.
Submitted by: Mike Krawchuk Nov. 26, 2003