[Vwoolf] (Mis?)Attributed Woolf Quotations

Fri Apr 20 05:44:32 EDT 2018

In my ample free time, I have extracted the quotations from http://bust.com/books/15466-virginia-woolf.html and identified them below.

Stuart

http://bust.com/books/15466-virginia-woolf.html

30 Virginia Woolf Photos And Quotes To Inspire You 

BY Olivia Harrison 

IN Books 

A feminist is any woman who tells the truth about her life. [MADE UP, but cf. the speech of 21 Jan. 1931 in “The Pargiters”; Essays 5, Appendix V; Essays 6, pp. 479-84.]

No need to hurry. No need to sparkle. No need to be anybo[d]y but oneself. [“A Room of One’s Own”, ch. 1, Harcourt, 1981, p. 11]

Once she knows how to read there's only one thing you can teach her to believe in[ -] and that is herself.  [“A Society”]

I am rooted, but I flow. [“The Waves”, Harvest, 1959, p. 102]

If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people. [“The Leaning Tower”, Essays 6, p. 274]

For most of history, Anonymous was a woman. [MADE UP, but cf. “A Room”, ch. 3, p. 49: “I would venture to guess that Anon, who wrote so many poems without signing them, was often a woman.”]

I detest the masculine point of view. I am bored by his heroism, virtue, and honour. I think the best these men can do is not talk about themselves anymore. [Draft speech of 1931 in the appendix to “The Pargiters”, p. 164]

As long as she thinks of a man, nobody objects to a woman thinking. [“Orlando”, Hogarth, 1928, p. 242]

So long as you write what you wish to write, that is all that matters; and whether it matters for ages or only for hours, nobody can say. [“A Room”, ch. 6, p. 106]

The truth is, I often like women. I like their unconventionality. I like their completeness. I like their anonymity. [“A Room”, ch. 6, 1981, p. 111, which has “I like their subtlety.” instead of “I like their completeness.” “I like their subtlety.” appeared in the 1st Hogarth edition, but was changed to “I like their completeness.” in all the subsequent HP reprints]

Why are women ... so much more interesting to men than men are to women? [“A Room”, ch. 2, pp. 27-8]

Masterpieces are not single and solitary births; they are the outcome of many years of thinking in common, of thinking by the body of the people, so that the experience of the mass is behind the single voice. [“A Room”, ch. 4, p. 65]

Books are the mirrors of the soul. [“Between the Acts”, Harvest, 1969, p. 16]

You cannot find peace by avoiding life. [HARE, David, "The Hours" (screenplay, based on the novel by Michael Cunningham), London: Faber and Faber, 2008, p. 96, which has “do not”; cf. the original of this scene (which does not have these words) in the novel (London: Harper Perennial, 2010), pp. 170-2]

Arrange whatever pieces may come your way. [Diary 3, 5 Sep 1925, p. 39]

From: Mary Ellen Foley 
Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2018 6:08 PM
To: Stuart N. Clarke 
Cc: vwoolf 
Subject: Re: [Vwoolf] (Mis?)Attributed Woolf Quotation

At least the "30 Quotes" column on Bust.com seems to have been cited by the reviewer, rather than those who produced the book!  Doesn't reflect terribly well on the journal -- how embarrassing!

mef

On Wed, Apr 18, 2018 at 10:55 AM, Stuart N. Clarke via Vwoolf <vwoolf at lists.osu.edu> wrote:

  This is the ref. – pretty contemptible to cite it.

  Stuart

  Harrison, Olivia. 2017. “30 Virginia Woolf Photos And Quotes In Celebration Of Her Birthday.” Bust.Com. Accessed January 7. http://bust.com/books/15466-virginia-woolf.html. 

  [Google Scholar]

  From: Jeremy Hawthorn via Vwoolf 
  Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2018 9:39 AM
  To: vwoolf at lists.osu.edu 
  Subject: Re: [Vwoolf] (Mis?)Attributed Woolf Quotation

  The thing about the internet is that falsities spread like influenza in WW1 trenches. Out of interest I Googled the quotation and there are indeed very many hits. The only serious academic source I got was this. The review opens with the attributed quotation, but alas it is paywalled so I can't check who "Harrison 2017" is, or what he/she is citing.

  https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14616742.2017.1327228?journalCode=rfjp20

  At any rate, the woman who could write the following in Three Guineas is unlikely to have uttered the words in question. 

  "What more fitting than to destroy an old word, a vicious and corrupt word that has done much harm in its day and is now obsolete? The word 'feminist' is the word indicated. That word, according to the dictionary, means 'one who champions the rights of women'. Since the only right, the right to earn a living, has been won, the word no longer has a meaning."

  Jeremy H

  On 18.04.2018 10:14, Stuart N. Clarke via Vwoolf wrote:

    It’s madey-uppy.

    Stuart

    From: Illusha Nokhrin via Vwoolf 
    Sent: Wednesday, April 11, 2018 6:22 PM
    To: vwoolf 
    Subject: [Vwoolf] (Mis?)Attributed Woolf Quotation

    Dear colleagues, 

    I was recently exploring representations of Woolf in popular culture and came across a few different posters that use the following quotation and attribute it to Woolf: 

    "A feminist is any woman who tells the truth about her life"

    The quotation is also attributed to Woolf on a number of websites, including GoodReads, Vice, and a book review in the International Feminist Journal of Politics. However, I can't seem to locate the quotation in any of Woolf's writing. Knowing that the Internet is so very often wrong about attribution, I don't wish to send anyone on any wild goose chases. However, I was wondering if anyone has happened to come across the above quotation in any of Woolf's private or public texts? 

    With best wishes,
    Illusha

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