It is seldom indeed that one parts on good terms, because if one were on good terms one would not part.

Proust’s aphorism treats separation as evidence of an underlying fracture: if relations were genuinely harmonious, there would be no impetus to break away. The line captures a characteristically Proustian skepticism about the stories people tell themselves at moments of rupture—polite “good terms” can mask resentment, boredom, jealousy, or the slow erosion of intimacy. It also points to the asymmetry of partings: even when one party claims amicability, the very act of leaving implies dissatisfaction or a reordering of desire. In this view, the pain and awkwardness of farewells are not accidental but structurally tied to why partings occur at all.