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 WoolfRead
One likes people much better when they're battered down by a prodigious siege of misfortune than when they triumph.
Interpretation
What this quote means
People tend to empathize more with those who have faced adversity than with those who have achieved success.
Virginia Woolf suggests that there is a deeper connection and appreciation for individuals who endure hardship and misfortune, as these experiences often uncover their vulnerability and resilience. In contrast, triumph can create distance, as success can sometimes lead to envy or alienation, making it difficult to relate. This perspective emphasizes the value of compassion and understanding in human relationships, highlighting how shared struggles foster empathy and connection.
Themes
EmpathyAdversitySuccessHuman ConnectionMisfortune
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech emphasizing the importance of resilience in the face of challenges.
More from Virginia Woolf
All quotes βDeath is woven in with the violets,β said Louis. βDeath and again death.β)
Virginia WoolfRead
He began to search among the infinite series of impressions which time had laid down, leaf upon leaf, fold upon fold softly, incessantly upon his brain; among scents, sounds; voices, harsh, hollow, sweet; and lights passing, and brooms tapping; and the wash and hush of the sea.
Virginia WoolfRead
I want to think quietly, calmly, spaciously, never to be interrupted, never to have to rise from my chair, to slip easily from one thing to another, without any sense of hostility, or obstacle. I want to sink deeper and deeper, away from the surface, with its hard separate facts.
Virginia WoolfRead
I do think all good and evil comes from words. I have to tune myself into a good temper with something musical, and I run to a book as a child to its mother.
Virginia WoolfRead
London perpetually attracts, stimulates, gives me a play and a story and a poem, without any trouble, save that of moving my legs through the streets... To walk alone through London is the greatest rest.
Virginia WoolfRead
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