Authors: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

100 Top Quotes By Virginia Woolf, The Author Of Mrs. Dalloway

Famous As: One of the Most Important Modernist 20th-Century Authors
Born On: January 25, 1882
Died On: March 28, 1941
Born In: Kensington, London, England
Died At Age: 59
Modernist writer of the twentieth century, Virginia Woolf was an English novelist, essayist, biographer and feminist who made significant contribution to the English literary club. She was a prolific writer whose modernist style changed with each book. She was an important figure in London literary society and a central figure in the influential Bloomsbury Group of intellectuals. Her most famous works include the novels ‘Mrs Dalloway’, ‘To the Lighthouse’ and ‘Orlando’, each of which were highly successful and established her reputation as a contemporary writer. In addition to this, she came up with pioneering feminist work including ‘A Room of One's Own’ and ‘Three Guineas’. In both the works, she examined the difficulties that female writers and intellectuals faced because men held disproportionate legal and economic power. She also discussed about the future of women in education and society. Woolf wrote extensively on the problem of women’s access to the learned professions, such as academia, church, law, and medicine which only worsened with women’s exclusion from important universities such as Oxford and Cambridge. Woolf’s feminist viewpoint and perspective can also be seen in her quotes that portray her innate idealism and thought. In simple words, she has thrown light at important facts of life and touched varied topics. Go through this section and find out quotes by Virginia Woolf.  
Listed In:
I would venture to guess that Anon, who wrote so many poems without signing them, was often a woman.

I would venture to guess that Anon, who wrote so many poems without signing them, was often a woman.

Virginia Woolf
You cannot find peace by avoiding life.

You cannot find peace by avoiding life.

Virginia Woolf
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.

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.

Virginia Woolf
Books are the mirrors of the soul.

Books are the mirrors of the soul.

Virginia Woolf
Why are women... so much more interesting to men than men are to women?

Why are women... so much more interesting to men than men are to women?

Virginia Woolf
One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.

One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.

Virginia Woolf
If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people.

If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people.

Virginia Woolf
Writing is like sex. First you do it for love, then you do it for your friends, and then you do it for money.

Writing is like sex. First you do it for love, then you do it for your friends, and then you do it for money.

Virginia Woolf
As a woman I have no country. As a woman I want no country. As a woman, my country is the whole world.

As a woman I have no country. As a woman I want no country. As a woman, my country is the whole world.

Virginia Woolf
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.

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 Woolf
When you consider things like the stars, our affairs don't seem to matter very much, do they?

When you consider things like the stars, our affairs don't seem to matter very much, do they?

Virginia Woolf
The eyes of others our prisons; their thoughts our cages.

The eyes of others our prisons; their thoughts our cages.

Virginia Woolf
Growing up is losing some illusions, in order to acquire others.

Growing up is losing some illusions, in order to acquire others.

Virginia Woolf
As long as she thinks of a man, nobody objects to a woman thinking.

As long as she thinks of a man, nobody objects to a woman thinking.

Virginia Woolf
No need to hurry. No need to sparkle. No need to be anybody but oneself.

No need to hurry. No need to sparkle. No need to be anybody but oneself.

Virginia Woolf
Anon, who wrote so many poems without signing them, was often a woman.

Anon, who wrote so many poems without signing them, was often a woman.

Virginia Woolf
Nothing thicker than a knife's blade separates happiness from melancholy.

Nothing thicker than a knife's blade separates happiness from melancholy.

Virginia Woolf
There was a star riding through clouds one night, & I said to the star, 'Consume me'.

There was a star riding through clouds one night, & I said to the star, 'Consume me'.

Virginia Woolf
Love, the poet said, is woman's whole existence.

Love, the poet said, is woman's whole existence.

Virginia Woolf
Orlando naturally loved solitary places, vast views, and to feel himself for ever and ever and ever alone.

Orlando naturally loved solitary places, vast views, and to feel himself for ever and ever and ever alone.

Virginia Woolf
Second hand books are wild books, homeless books; they have come together in vast flocks of variegated feather, and have a charm which the domesticated volumes of the library lack.

Second hand books are wild books, homeless books; they have come together in vast flocks of variegated feather, and have a charm which the domesticated volumes of the library lack.

Virginia Woolf
Women have served all these centuries as looking glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of man at twice its natural size.

Women have served all these centuries as looking glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of man at twice its natural size.

Virginia Woolf
I am rooted, but I flow.

I am rooted, but I flow.

Virginia Woolf
I thought how unpleasant it is to be locked out; and I thought how it is worse, perhaps, to be locked in.

I thought how unpleasant it is to be locked out; and I thought how it is worse, perhaps, to be locked in.

Virginia Woolf
The truth is, I often like women. I like their unconventionality. I like their completeness. I like their anonymity.

The truth is, I often like women. I like their unconventionality. I like their completeness. I like their anonymity.

Virginia Woolf
A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.

A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.

Virginia Woolf
All extremes of feeling are allied with madness.

All extremes of feeling are allied with madness.

Virginia Woolf
I have lost friends, some by death...others by sheer inability to cross the street.

I have lost friends, some by death...others by sheer inability to cross the street.

Virginia Woolf
The history of men's opposition to women's emancipation is more interesting perhaps than the story of that emancipation itself.

The history of men's opposition to women's emancipation is more interesting perhaps than the story of that emancipation itself.

Virginia Woolf
To look life in the face, always, to look life in the face, and to know it for what it is...at last, to love it for what it is, and then, to put it away...

To look life in the face, always, to look life in the face, and to know it for what it is...at last, to love it for what it is, and then, to put it away...

Virginia Woolf
Melancholy were the sounds on a winter's night.

Melancholy were the sounds on a winter's night.

Virginia Woolf
She had the perpetual sense, as she watched the taxi cabs, of being out, out, far out to sea and alone; she always had the feeling that it was very, very, dangerous to live even one day.

She had the perpetual sense, as she watched the taxi cabs, of being out, out, far out to sea and alone; she always had the feeling that it was very, very, dangerous to live even one day.

Virginia Woolf
I meant to write about death, only life came breaking in as usual

I meant to write about death, only life came breaking in as usual

Virginia Woolf
I am reading six books at once, the only way of reading; since, as you will agree, one book is only a single unaccompanied note, and to get the full sound, one needs ten others at the same time.

I am reading six books at once, the only way of reading; since, as you will agree, one book is only a single unaccompanied note, and to get the full sound, one needs ten others at the same time.

Virginia Woolf
He thought her beautiful, believed her impeccably wise; dreamed of her, wrote poems to her, which, ignoring the subject, she corrected in red ink.

He thought her beautiful, believed her impeccably wise; dreamed of her, wrote poems to her, which, ignoring the subject, she corrected in red ink.

Virginia Woolf
Blame it or praise it, there is no denying the wild horse in us.

Blame it or praise it, there is no denying the wild horse in us.

Virginia Woolf
I don't believe in aging. I believe in forever altering one's aspect to the sun.

I don't believe in aging. I believe in forever altering one's aspect to the sun.

Virginia Woolf
What does the brain matter compared with the heart?

What does the brain matter compared with the heart?

Virginia Woolf
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.

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.

Virginia Woolf
I worship you, but I loathe marriage. I hate its smugness, its safety, its compromise and the thought of you interfering with my work, hindering me; what would you answer?

I worship you, but I loathe marriage. I hate its smugness, its safety, its compromise and the thought of you interfering with my work, hindering me; what would you answer?

Virginia Woolf
Each has his past shut in him like the leaves of a book known to him by heart and his friends can only read the title.

Each has his past shut in him like the leaves of a book known to him by heart and his friends can only read the title.

Virginia Woolf
Literature is strewn with the wreckage of those who have minded beyond reason the opinion of others.

Literature is strewn with the wreckage of those who have minded beyond reason the opinion of others.

Virginia Woolf
When I cannot see words curling like rings of smoke round me I am in darkness—I am nothing.

When I cannot see words curling like rings of smoke round me I am in darkness—I am nothing.

Virginia Woolf
I see you everywhere, in the stars, in the river, to me you're everything that exists; the reality of everything.

I see you everywhere, in the stars, in the river, to me you're everything that exists; the reality of everything.

Virginia Woolf
It might be possible that the world itself is without meaning.

It might be possible that the world itself is without meaning.

Virginia Woolf
The beauty of the world...has two edges, one of laughter, one of anguish, cutting the heart asunder.

The beauty of the world...has two edges, one of laughter, one of anguish, cutting the heart asunder.

Virginia Woolf
Mrs Dalloway is always giving parties to cover the silence

Mrs Dalloway is always giving parties to cover the silence

Virginia Woolf
They went in and out of each other's minds without any effort.

They went in and out of each other's minds without any effort.

Virginia Woolf
Really I don't like human nature unless all candied over with art

Really I don't like human nature unless all candied over with art

Virginia Woolf
I am made and remade continually. Different people draw different words from me.

I am made and remade continually. Different people draw different words from me.

Virginia Woolf
Anything may happen when womanhood has ceased to be a protected occupation.

Anything may happen when womanhood has ceased to be a protected occupation.

Virginia Woolf
Arrange whatever pieces come your way.

Arrange whatever pieces come your way.

Virginia Woolf
He smiled the most exquisite smile, veiled by memory, tinged by dreams.

He smiled the most exquisite smile, veiled by memory, tinged by dreams.

Virginia Woolf
It is in our idleness, in our dreams, that the submerged truth sometimes makes its way to the surface.

It is in our idleness, in our dreams, that the submerged truth sometimes makes its way to the surface.

Virginia Woolf
She thought there were no Gods; no one was to blame; and so she evolved this atheist's religion of doing good for the sake of goodness.

She thought there were no Gods; no one was to blame; and so she evolved this atheist's religion of doing good for the sake of goodness.

Virginia Woolf
Often on a wet day I begin counting up; what I've read and what I haven't read.

Often on a wet day I begin counting up; what I've read and what I haven't read.

Virginia Woolf
To want and not to have, sent all up her body a hardness, a hollowness, a strain. And then to want and not to have- to want and want- how that wrung the heart, and wrung it again and again!

To want and not to have, sent all up her body a hardness, a hollowness, a strain. And then to want and not to have- to want and want- how that wrung the heart, and wrung it again and again!

Virginia Woolf
Fiction is like a spider's web, attached ever so lightly perhaps, but still attached to life at all four corners.

Fiction is like a spider's web, attached ever so lightly perhaps, but still attached to life at all four corners.

Virginia Woolf
To love makes one solitary.

To love makes one solitary.

Virginia Woolf
But then anyone who's worth anything reads just what he likes, as the mood takes him, and with extravagant enthusiasm.

But then anyone who's worth anything reads just what he likes, as the mood takes him, and with extravagant enthusiasm.

Virginia Woolf
Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself.

Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself.

Virginia Woolf
I really don't advise a woman who wants to have things her own way to get married

I really don't advise a woman who wants to have things her own way to get married

Virginia Woolf
It is far harder to kill a phantom than a reality.

It is far harder to kill a phantom than a reality.

Virginia Woolf
I detest the masculine point of view. I am bored by his heroism, virtue, and honour. I think the best these men can do is not talk about themselves anymore.

I detest the masculine point of view. I am bored by his heroism, virtue, and honour. I think the best these men can do is not talk about themselves anymore.

Virginia Woolf
Never let anybody guess that you have a mind of your own. Above all be pure

Never let anybody guess that you have a mind of your own. Above all be pure

Virginia Woolf
I have a deeply hidden and inarticulate desire for something beyond the daily life.

I have a deeply hidden and inarticulate desire for something beyond the daily life.

Virginia Woolf
For this moment, this one moment, we are together. I press you to me. Come, pain, feed on me. Bury your fangs in my flesh. Tear me asunder. I sob, I sob.

For this moment, this one moment, we are together. I press you to me. Come, pain, feed on me. Bury your fangs in my flesh. Tear me asunder. I sob, I sob.

Virginia Woolf
I am in the mood to dissolve in the sky.

I am in the mood to dissolve in the sky.

Virginia Woolf
I feel so intensely the delights of shutting oneself up in a little world of one’s own, with pictures and music and everything beautiful.

I feel so intensely the delights of shutting oneself up in a little world of one’s own, with pictures and music and everything beautiful.

Virginia Woolf
I want to write a novel about Silence,

I want to write a novel about Silence," he said; “the things people don’t say.

Virginia Woolf
About here, she thought, dabbling her fingers in the water, a ship had sunk, and she muttered, dreamily half asleep, how we perished, each alone.

About here, she thought, dabbling her fingers in the water, a ship had sunk, and she muttered, dreamily half asleep, how we perished, each alone.

Virginia Woolf
And all the lives we ever lived and all the lives to be are full of trees
and changing leaves.

And all the lives we ever lived and all the lives to be are full of trees and changing leaves.

Virginia Woolf
Was not writing poetry a secret transaction, a voice answering a voice?

Was not writing poetry a secret transaction, a voice answering a voice?

Virginia Woolf
It is a thousand pities never to say what one feels.

It is a thousand pities never to say what one feels.

Virginia Woolf
I'm sick to death of this particular self. I want another.

I'm sick to death of this particular self. I want another.

Virginia Woolf
For books continue each other, in spite of our habit of judging them separately.

For books continue each other, in spite of our habit of judging them separately.

Virginia Woolf
Just in case you ever foolishly forget; I'm never not thinking of you.

Just in case you ever foolishly forget; I'm never not thinking of you.

Virginia Woolf
I need not hate any man; he cannot hurt me. I need not flatter any man; he has nothing to give me.

I need not hate any man; he cannot hurt me. I need not flatter any man; he has nothing to give me.

Virginia Woolf
...who shall measure the heat and violence of a poet's heart when caught and tangled in a woman's body?

...who shall measure the heat and violence of a poet's heart when caught and tangled in a woman's body?

Virginia Woolf
Friendships, even the best of them, are frail things. One drifts apart.

Friendships, even the best of them, are frail things. One drifts apart.

Virginia Woolf
It is no use trying to sum people up.

It is no use trying to sum people up.

Virginia Woolf
It was a silly, silly dream, being unhappy.

It was a silly, silly dream, being unhappy.

Virginia Woolf
Beauty was not everything. Beauty had this penalty — it came too readily, came too completely. It stilled life — froze it.

Beauty was not everything. Beauty had this penalty — it came too readily, came too completely. It stilled life — froze it.

Virginia Woolf
He who robs us of our dreams robs us of our life.

He who robs us of our dreams robs us of our life.

Virginia Woolf
The most extraordinary thing about writing is that when you've struck the right vein, tiredness goes. It must be an effort, thinking wrong.

The most extraordinary thing about writing is that when you've struck the right vein, tiredness goes. It must be an effort, thinking wrong.

Virginia Woolf
I need silence, and to be alone and to go out, and to save one hour
to consider what has happened to my world, what death has done to my
world.

I need silence, and to be alone and to go out, and to save one hour to consider what has happened to my world, what death has done to my world.

Virginia Woolf
When the body escaped mutilation, seldom did the heart go to the grave unscarred.

When the body escaped mutilation, seldom did the heart go to the grave unscarred.

Virginia Woolf
...she always had the feeling that it was very, very dangerous to live even one day.

...she always had the feeling that it was very, very dangerous to live even one day.

Virginia Woolf
And the poem, I think, is only your voice speaking.

And the poem, I think, is only your voice speaking.

Virginia Woolf
How many times have people used a pen or paintbrush because they couldn’t pull the trigger?

How many times have people used a pen or paintbrush because they couldn’t pull the trigger?

Virginia Woolf
The world wavered and quivered and threatened to burst into flames.

The world wavered and quivered and threatened to burst into flames.

Virginia Woolf
Better was it to go unknown and leave behind you an arch, then to burn like a meteor and leave no dust.

Better was it to go unknown and leave behind you an arch, then to burn like a meteor and leave no dust.

Virginia Woolf
Life stand still here.

Life stand still here.

Virginia Woolf
I was always going to the bookcase for another sip of the divine specific.

I was always going to the bookcase for another sip of the divine specific.

Virginia Woolf
My own brain is to me the most unaccountable of machinery - always buzzing, humming, soaring roaring diving, and then buried in mud. And why? What's this passion for?

My own brain is to me the most unaccountable of machinery - always buzzing, humming, soaring roaring diving, and then buried in mud. And why? What's this passion for?

Virginia Woolf
I begin to long for some little language such as lovers use, broken words, inarticulate words, like the shuffling of feet on pavement.

I begin to long for some little language such as lovers use, broken words, inarticulate words, like the shuffling of feet on pavement.

Virginia Woolf
But nothing is so strange when one is in love (and what was this except being in love?) as the complete indifference of other people.

But nothing is so strange when one is in love (and what was this except being in love?) as the complete indifference of other people.

Virginia Woolf
Never pretend that the things you haven't got are not worth having.

Never pretend that the things you haven't got are not worth having.

Virginia Woolf
Peter would think her sentimental. So she was. For she had come to feel that it was the only thing worth saying – what one felt. Cleverness was silly. One must say simply what one felt.

Peter would think her sentimental. So she was. For she had come to feel that it was the only thing worth saying – what one felt. Cleverness was silly. One must say simply what one felt.

Virginia Woolf
What is this terror? what is this ecstasy? he thought to himself. What is it that fills me with this extraordinary excitement? 
It is Clarissa, he said. 
For there she was.

What is this terror? what is this ecstasy? he thought to himself. What is it that fills me with this extraordinary excitement? It is Clarissa, he said. For there she was.

Virginia Woolf