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A woman knows very well that, though a wit sends her his poems, praises her judgment, solicits her criticism, and drinks her tea, this by no means signifies that he respects her opinions, admires her understanding, or will refuse, though the rapier is denied him, to run through the body with his pen.

— Virginia Woolf Orlando: A Biography (1928)

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More quotes by Virginia Woolf

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)

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

A Room of One's Own (1929)

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

The Moment and Other Essays (1948)

The beauty of the world which is so soon to perish, has two edges, one of laughter, one of anguish, cutting the heart asunder.

A Room of One's Own (1929)

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

Orlando: A Biography (1928)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Virginia Woolf (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.