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

Famous As: One of the Most Important Modernist 20th-Century Authors
Born On: 1882
Died On: 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.  
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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