[thret]

It reminded me of a similar sentiment by Marcel Proust:

“So we don't believe that life is beautiful because we don't recall it but if we get a whiff of a long-forgotten smell we are suddenly intoxicated and similarly we think we no longer love the dead because we don't remember them but if by chance we come across an old glove we burst into tears.”

[Jugurtha]

We call it "Madeleine de Proust" in French.

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madeleine_de_Proust

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Involuntary_memory

"Proust Effect" or something like that in English.

[jwmcq]

I think I've seen "Madeleine Moment" most often in English.

[nuancebydefault]

When i'm sawing wood and the dust starts smelling burnt, I'm immediately transported back into my late dad's workshop. Easily happens when the teeth are wearing out. Also, somehow the fumes of his sigars smelled very similar.

[Sinidir]

Funny i know about Proust from The Sopranos.

[tomjakubowski]

If we're sharing I learned about him from the preeminent Proust scholar in the United States, while I watched Little Miss Sunshine.

[grogenaut]

Same