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
Literature is strewn with the wreckage of men who have minded beyond reason the opinions of others.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote warns against letting the opinions of others overly influence one's own thoughts and actions.
Virginia Woolf highlights the dangers of being excessively concerned with others' opinions, suggesting that it can lead to a personal downfall. Those who prioritize external validation over their own reasoning risk losing their identity and voice, resulting in emotional and intellectual 'wreckage.'
Themes
OpinionsIdentitySelfReasonValidation
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about self-acceptance and authenticity.
More from Virginia Woolf
All quotes βDeath is woven in with the violets,β said Louis. βDeath and again death.β)
Virginia WoolfRead
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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