Step into the world of Virginia Woolf, the influential British writer, feminist, and modernist pioneer whose words continue to captivate and inspire readers today. Renowned for her groundbreaking literary works, Woolf's profound insights into human nature, society, and the complexities of gender have left an indelible mark on the literary landscape. In this article, we embark on a journey to explore 50 of her most progressive and thought-provoking quotes that shed light on her visionary ideas and continue to resonate in our ever-changing world.
It's the early 20th century, a time when prevailing attitudes confined women to societal expectations and limited their intellectual pursuits. In the midst of this cultural backdrop, Virginia Woolf emerged as a trailblazer, challenging the norms and pushing the boundaries of literature. Her quotes serve as windows into her revolutionary thinking, inviting us to contemplate themes such as gender equality, individual freedom, and the fluidity of human experience. So, grab a cup of tea, settle into a cozy nook, and join us as we unveil the profound wisdom encapsulated in these 50 progressive Virginia Woolf quotes, each a testament to her enduring relevance in the realm of literature and social progress.
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“A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.”
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“For most of history, Anonymous was a woman.”
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“Lock up your libraries if you like, but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind.”
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“I would venture to guess that Anon, who wrote so many poems without signing them, was often a woman.”
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“As a woman, I have no country. As a woman, my country is the whole world.”
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“Fiction is like a spider's web, attached ever so lightly perhaps, but still attached to life at all four corners.”
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“The beauty of the world… has two edges, one of laughter, one of anguish, cutting the heart asunder.”
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“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well if one has not dined well.”
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“I am rooted, but I flow.”
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“The past only comes back when the present runs so smoothly that it is like the sliding surface of a deep river.”
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“You cannot find peace by avoiding life.”
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“As long as she thinks of a man, nobody objects to a woman thinking.”
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“Arrange whatever pieces come your way.”
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“It is far harder to kill a phantom than a reality.”
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“The eyes of others our prisons; their thoughts our cages.”
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“It is the nature of the artist to mind excessively what is said about him. Literature is strewn with the wreckage of men who have minded beyond reason the opinions of others.”
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“The telephone, which interrupts the most serious conversations and cuts short the most weighty observations, has a romance of its own.”
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“The world is all gates, all opportunities, strings of tension waiting to be struck.”
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“Growing up is losing some illusions, in order to acquire others.”
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“If you do not tell the truth about yourself, you cannot tell it about other people.”
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“The beauty of the world, which is so soon to perish, has two edges, one of laughter, one of anguish, cutting the heart asunder.”
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“It is fatal to be a man or woman pure and simple; one must be a woman manly, or a man womanly.”
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“One cannot be always laughing at a man without now and then stumbling on something witty.”
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“A good essay must have this permanent quality about it; it must draw its curtain round us, but it must be a curtain that shuts us in, not out.”
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“The mark of a good book is it changes every time you read it.”
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“Nothing has really happened until it has been recorded.”
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“The future is dark, which is the best thing the future can be, I think.”
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“There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written or badly written.”
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“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well if one has not dined well.”
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“What does the brain matter compared with the heart?”
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“The beauty of the world… has two edges, one of laughter, one of anguish, cutting the heart asunder.”
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“Arrange whatever pieces come your way.”
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“The eyes of others our prisons; their thoughts our cages.”
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“It is far harder to kill a phantom than a reality.”
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“The telephone, which interrupts the most serious conversations and cuts short the most weighty observations, has a romance of its own.”
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“The world is all gates, all opportunities, strings of tension waiting to be struck.”
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“Growing up is losing some illusions, in order to acquire others.”
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“If you do not tell the truth about yourself, you cannot tell it about other people.”
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“The beauty of the world, which is so soon to perish, has two edges, one of laughter, one of anguish, cutting the heart asunder.”
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“It is fatal to be a man or woman pure and simple; one must be a woman manly, or a man womanly.”
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“One cannot be always laughing at a man without now and then stumbling on something witty.”
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“A good essay must have this permanent quality about it; it must draw its curtain round us, but it must be a curtain that shuts us in, not out.”
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“The mark of a good book is it changes every time you read it.”
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“Nothing has really happened until it has been recorded.”
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“The future is dark, which is the best thing the future can be, I think.”
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“There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written or badly written.”
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“I thought how unpleasant it is to be locked out; and I thought how it is worse, perhaps, to be locked in.”
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“The poet's job is to put into words those feelings we all have that are so deep, so important, and yet so difficult to name, to tell the truth in such a beautiful way that people cannot live without it.”
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“A self that goes on changing is a self that goes on living.”
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“Life is not a series of gig lamps symmetrically arranged; life is a luminous halo, a semi-transparent envelope surrounding us from the beginning of consciousness to the end.”
