I can only note that the past is beautiful because one never realises an emotion at the time. It expands later, and thus we don't have complete emotions about the present, only about the past.
Virginia WoolfRead
I do think all good and evil comes from words. I have to tune myself into a good temper with something musical, and I run to a book as a child to its mother.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the profound impact of words on our emotions and moral compass.
Virginia Woolf reflects on the transformative power of words, suggesting that they are the foundation of our experiences of good and evil. She expresses the idea that, much like a child finding comfort in their mother, she seeks solace and harmony in literature, showing how words can nurture our spirits and shape our perceptions.
Themes
WordsGoodEvilMusicBooksComfort
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech about the importance of literature in education.
More from Virginia Woolf
All quotes →Death is woven in with the violets,” said Louis. “Death and again death.”)
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He began to search among the infinite series of impressions which time had laid down, leaf upon leaf, fold upon fold softly, incessantly upon his brain; among scents, sounds; voices, harsh, hollow, sweet; and lights passing, and brooms tapping; and the wash and hush of the sea.
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I want to think quietly, calmly, spaciously, never to be interrupted, never to have to rise from my chair, to slip easily from one thing to another, without any sense of hostility, or obstacle. I want to sink deeper and deeper, away from the surface, with its hard separate facts.
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London perpetually attracts, stimulates, gives me a play and a story and a poem, without any trouble, save that of moving my legs through the streets... To walk alone through London is the greatest rest.
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I really don't advise a woman who wants to have things her own way to get married
Virginia WoolfRead
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