In the first volume, Swann's Way, the series of books, Swann, one of the main characters, is thinking very fondly of his mistress and how great she is in bed, and suddenly, in the course of a few sentences, and these are Proustian sentences, so they're long as rivers, but in the course of a few sentences, he suddenly recoils and he realizes, "Hang on, everything I love about this woman, somebody else would love about this woman.
„Svana pusē” pirmajā romānā no sērijas, Svans, viens no galvenajiem varoņiem, domās novērtē savu mīļāko, cik laba viņa ir gultā un pēkšņi, pāris teikumos. Kas gan ir Prusta teikumi un attiecīgi ir gari kā upes. Bet pēc dažiem teikumiem, Svans pēkšņi atsprāgst riebumā un saprot: „Pagaidi, visu, ko es mīlu šajā sievietē, mīlētu arī kāds cits.