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
The history of men's opposition to women's emancipation is more interesting perhaps than the story of that emancipation itself.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The struggle for women's rights is a significant part of history, often overshadowing the actual achievements of emancipation.
Virginia Woolf's quote highlights the complex narrative surrounding women's emancipation, suggesting that the resistance faced by women in their quest for equality is as compelling, if not more so, than the progress they have made. It underscores the importance of understanding societal attitudes and historical opposition in order to fully appreciate the achievements of the women's rights movement.
Themes
EmancipationWomenOppositionHistoryEquality
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about women's rights, one could use this quote to emphasize the importance of acknowledging historical resistance.
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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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.
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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.
Virginia WoolfRead
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