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
We are about to part," said Neville. "Here are the boxes; here are the cabs. There is Percival in his billycock hat. He will forget me. He will leave my letters lying about among guns and dogs unaswered. I shall send him poems and he will perhaps reply with a picture post card. But it is for that that I love him. I shall propose a meeting - under a clock, by some Cross; and shall wait and he will not come. It is for that that I love him.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects the bittersweet nature of love and longing for connection, even when faced with potential abandonment.
In this poignant excerpt by Virginia Woolf, the speaker, Neville, grapples with the reality of parting from someone he loves deeply. Despite the uncertainty and the fear of being forgotten, he expresses a profound affection for this person, valuing even the potential for unreciprocated communication through letters and poems. The imagery of waiting under a clock signifies the anticipation and hope that accompany love, revealing the complexities of human relationships where love persists even when the other may not be fully present or aware.
Themes
LoveLongingPartingAnticipationCommunication
In practice
Example use cases
During a heartfelt speech at a wedding, one might quote this to emphasize the beauty of love despite challenges.
More from Virginia Woolf
All quotes →Death is woven in with the violets,” said Louis. “Death and again death.”)
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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