Virginia Woolf is considered to be one of the greatest Modernist authors of the 20th-century. Her ‘stream of consciousness’ style of writing was incredibly innovative in its time, as well as her rejection of Victorian era ideologies such as realism and societal conformity. Much of her work has feminist themes and considers the meaning of life as Woolf sees it. In celebration of her unique spirit, we look back on some of her most wise and profound quotes.
Literature is open to everybody. I refuse to allow you, Beadle though you are, to turn me off the grass. 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.
A Room of One’s Own (1929)
I would venture to guess that Anon, who wrote so many poems without signing them, was often a woman.
A Room of One’s Own (1929)
What is the meaning of life? That was all – a simple question; one that tended to close in on one with years, the great revelation had never come. The great revelation perhaps never did come. Instead, there were little daily miracles, illuminations, matches struck unexpectedly in the dark; here was one.
To the Lighthouse (1927)
I am made and remade continually. Different people draw different words from me.
The Waves (1931)
What does the brain matter compared with the heart?
Mrs. Dalloway (1925)
For it would seem – her case proved it – that we write, not with the fingers, but with the whole person. The nerve which controls the pen winds itself around every fibre of our being, threads the heart, pierces the liver.
Orlando (1928)
Books are the mirrors of the soul.
Between the Acts (1941)
Literature is strewn in the wreckage of those who have minded beyond reason the opinion of others.
A Room of One’s Own (1929)
One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.
A Room of One’s Own (1929)
I will not be “famous,” “great.” I will go on adventuring, changing, opening my mind and my eyes, refusing to be stamped and stereotyped. The thing is to free one’s self: to let it find its dimensions, not be impeded.
A Writer’s Diary (1953)
Want more articles about Virginia Woolf? Go to Bookstr or click here.