Quotes from Virginia Woolf

I knew my cases and my genders; I could know everything in the world if I wished.

The birds sing in chorus; deep tunnels run between the stalks of flowers; the house is whitened; the sleeper stretches; gradually all is astir. Light floods the room and drives shadow beyond shadow to where they hang in folds inscrutable. What does the central shadow hold? Something? Nothing? I do not know.

it is necessary to have five hundred a year and a room with a lock on the door if you are to write fiction or poetry.

Tutto quello che in teoria sembrava semplice diventava in pratica immediatamente complesso; come le onde si disegnano in forme simmetriche dall'alto dello scoglio, ma per il nuotatore che si trova in mezzo a loro sono divise da ripidi abissi e creste spumeggianti. Pure, è necessario correre il rischio; tracciare il segno.

O amor, para ele, não passara de cinzas e serragem. As alegrias que dele extraíra não tinham gosto nenhum.

Por debaixo é tudo escuro, é tudo dispersão, é insondavelmente profundo; mas, de quando em quando, subimos à superfície e é através disso que somos vistos" (Ao Farol, Virgínia Woolf)

Better is it', she thought, 'to be clothed with poverty and ignorance, which are the dark garments of the female sex; better to leave the rule and discipline of the world to others; better be quit of martial ambition, the love of power, and all the other manly desires if so one can more fully enjoy the most exalted raptures known to the humane spirit, which are', she said aloud, as her habit was when deeply moved, 'contemplation, solitude, love.

for there was neither pride nor regret in his tone; indeed it kept its level note, as of one who tells a tale so well known that the words have been rubbed smooth of meaning.

una buena parte de ese espíritu de servicio público, de imperio británico, de reforma tributaria, de espíritu de la clase gobernante

I fear, I hate, I love, I envy and despise you […]

As we are a doomed race, chained to a sinking ship, as the whole thing is a bad joke, let us, at any rate, do our part; mitigate the sufferings of our fellow-prisoners; decorate the dungeon with flowers and air-cushions; be as decent as we possibly can.

He was amused and gratified to find that he had the power to annoy his oblivious, supercilious hostess, if he could not impress her; though he would have preferred to impress her. He

Il suo gusto per i libri era stato precoce. Da bambino, a volte un paggio lo trovava, a mezzanotte, ancora intento a leggere. [...] Per dirla in breve, Orlando era un nobile malato d'amore per la letteratura.

feeling herself suddenly shrivelled, aged, breastless

With twice his wits, she had to see things through his eyes—one of the tragedies of married life.

Later . . ." her sentence bubbled away drip, drip, drip, like a contented tap left running.

Fiction must stick to facts, and the truer the facts the better the fiction.

Soy el tallo. Mis raíces descienden hasta las profundidades del mundo, a través de tierras secas, de roca, a través de húmedas tierras, de vetas de plomo y de plata. Soy todo fibra. Todos los temblores me estremecen, y el peso de la tierra oprime mis costillares. Aquì, mis ojos son hojas verdes que no ven.

Deveria o dedo da morte ser posto, de tempos em tempos, sobre o tumulto da vida para evitar que ela nos esfacele? Seríamos feitos de tal forma que precisamos experimentar a morte em pequenas doses diárias para poder continuar exercendo o ofício de viver?

Thus, when one takes a sentence of Mr B into the mind it falls plump to the ground— dead; but when one takes a sentence of Coleridge into the mind, it explodes and gives birth to all kinds of other ideas, and that is the only sort of writing of which one can say that it has the secret of perpetual life.

For now, she need not think about anybody. She could be herself, by herself. And that was what now she often felt the need of—to think; well, not even to think. To be silent; to be alone.

Beauty had this penalty—it came too readily, came too completely. It stilled life—froze it. One forgot the little agitations; the flush, the pallor, some queer distortion, some light or shadow, which made the face unrecognisable for a moment and yet added a quality one saw for ever after. It was simpler to smooth that all out under the cover of beauty.

made up, as one makes up the better part of life...making oneself up; ...creating an exquisite amusement...

L'amore aveva migliaia di forme. Potevano esservi innamorati che avevano il dono di scegliere gli elementi delle cose e metterli insieme e così, dotandoli di una interezza che non possedevano nella realtà, fare di una scena, di un incontro tra persone (ora tutte svanite e separate), una sorta di globo compatto su cui il pensiero indugia, con cui l'amore gioca.