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
To depend upon a profession is a less odious form of slavery than to depend upon a father.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that relying on a profession is a better option than being dependent on a parental figure.
Virginia Woolf's quote highlights the complexities of dependence and autonomy in one's life. By comparing reliance on a profession to reliance on a father, she argues that while both forms of dependence can feel restrictive, having a professional identity offers an individual a greater sense of agency and self-determination compared to the often unequal dynamics of familial dependence. This perspective opens a discourse on personal freedom, societal roles, and the nature of human relationships.
Themes
DependenceProfessionAutonomyFreedomAgency
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about career choices, this quote can highlight the importance of personal independence.
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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It takes so many years to learn that one is dead.
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