110 quotes
Among the tortures and devastations of life is this then — our friends are not able to finish their stories.
The Waves (1931)
Happiness is to have a little string onto which things will attach themselves.
A Moment's Liberty (1990)
It is the nature of the artist to mind excessively what is said about him. Literature is strewn with the wreckage of men who have minded beyond reason the opinions of others.
A Room of One's Own (1929)
A light here required a shadow there.
To the Lighthouse (1927)
Humour is the first of the gifts to perish in a foreign tongue.
The Common Reader (1925)
Examine for a moment an ordinary mind on an ordinary day.
The Common Reader (1925)
At the age of thirty, or thereabouts, this young Nobleman had not only had every experience that life has to offer, but had seen the worthlessness of them all.
Orlando: A Biography (1928)
Morgan has the artist's mind; he says the simple things that clever people don't say; I find him the best of critics for that reason. Suddenly out comes the obvious thing that one has overlooked.
A Moment's Liberty (1990)
Our patience wore rather thin. Visitors do tend to chafe one, though impeccable as friends.
A Moment's Liberty (1990)
The trumpeters, ranging themselves side by side in order, blow one terrific blast: —
'THE TRUTH!
at which Orlando woke.
Orlando: A Biography (1928)
Novels so often provide an anodyne and not an antidote, glide one into torpid slumbers instead of rousing one with a burning brand.
A Room of One's Own (1929)
Down amongst the bushes she worked like a nigger.
Between the Acts (1941)
He — for there could be no doubt of his sex, though the fashion of the time did something to disguise it — was in the act of slicing at the head of a Moor which swung from the rafters.
Orlando: A Biography (1928)
We are not pleading merely for courage and sincerity; we are suggesting that the proper stuff of fiction is a little other than custom would have us believe it.
The Common Reader (1925)
But look — he flicks his hand to the back of his neck. For such gesture one falls hopelessly in love for a lifetime.
The Waves (1931)
The strongest natures, when they are influenced, submit the most unreservedly: it is perhaps a sign of their strength.
Books and Portraits (1977)
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)
For our penitence deserves a glimpse only; our toil respite only.
To the Lighthouse (1927)
Directly the mulberry tree begins to make you circle, break off. Pelt the tree with laughter.
Three Guineas (1938)
Lines slip easily down the accustomed grooves. The old designs are copied so glibly that we are half inclined to think them original, save for that very glibness.
The Death of the Moth and Other Essays (1942)