Admirable Quote by Virginia Woolf
“Few people ask from books what books can give us. Most commonly we come to books with blurred and divided minds, asking of fiction that it shall be true, of poetry that it shall be false, of biography that it shall be flattering, of history that it shall enforce our own prejudices. If we could banish all such preconceptions when we read, that would be an admirable beginning.”
About This Quote
Source Essay: “The Death of the Moth”, 1922
Preconceptions limit reading; approaching texts without bias allows true engagement with fiction, poetry, biography, and history.
In simple terms: Read without preconceptions.
Approach books openly, without bias.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- education
- book clubs
- personal development
- research methodology
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- How can we recognize our reading biases?
- What steps foster open‑minded reading?
Changing deep‑seated biases is difficult.