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
Second hand books are wild books, homeless books; they have come together in vast flocks of variegated feather, and have a charm which the domesticated volumes of the library lack.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Second-hand books carry stories and character that newer books may lack.
In this quote, Virginia Woolf highlights the unique charm and allure of second-hand books, suggesting that they possess a wild, untamed quality reflecting their diverse histories and experiences. Unlike new, 'domesticated' books that are neat and uniform, these books tell their own stories and have a depth of character formed by their previous owners, making them more intriguing and valuable in a literary sense.
Themes
BooksSecond-HandLiteratureWildCharmStories
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be shared during a book club meeting to celebrate the unique stories behind second-hand books.
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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