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
So long as you write what you wish to write, that is all that matters; and whether it matters for ages or only for hours, nobody can say.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Writing should be a personal expression regardless of its lasting impact.
Virginia Woolf emphasizes the importance of genuine self-expression in writing, suggesting that the value of one's words is not determined by their longevity or external recognition. The act of writing authentically is what truly counts, liberating the writer from the pressures of societal judgment or historical significance.
Themes
WritingSelf-ExpressionAuthenticityCreativityArt
In practice
Example use cases
During a literary workshop to inspire new writers.
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.
Virginia WoolfRead
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.
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.
Virginia WoolfRead
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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