“Those years of my earlier childhood are no longer a part of myself; they are external to me; I can learn nothing of them save—as we learn things that happened before we were born—from the accounts given me by other people.” (Proust, V. 3, 6)  The most common age to be able to remember is the age of four. It’s unlikely for a lot of people to be able to recall before the age of four. But in Proust’s case and from my own experience he’s saying he can not recall his earlier childhood memories only from what people have told him.  I thought I remembered going to preschool (at maybe 3 years old) and I remember a tall (for a three year old) caucasian boy with light brown hair and he called himself Tiger. But when i would ask my mom (because she has a great memory and can remember to that age for herself) she can not think of a kid with that description that even went to preschool with me. So automatically I think that maybe I made this boy up or it was a different time of my life because my mom says so.