Blue water Quote by Virginia Woolf
““For one day as I leant over a gate that led into a field, the rhythm stopped: the rhymes and the hummings, the nonsense and the poetry. A space was cleared in my mind. I saw through the thick leaves of habit. Leaning over the gate I regretted so much litter, so much unaccomplishment and separation, for one cannot cross London to see a friend, life being so full of engagements; nor take a ship to India and see a naked man spearing a fish in blue water. I said life had been imperfect, an unfinished phrase. It had been impossible for me, taking snuff as I do from any bagman met in a train, to keep coherency—that sense of the generations, of women carrying red pitchers to the Nile, of the nightingale who sings among conquests and migrations. It had been too vast an undertaking, I said, and how can I go on lifting my foot perpetually to climb the stair? I addressed myself as one would speak to a companion with whom one is voyaging to the North Pole.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: The Waves by Virginia Woolf, 1931
The narrator reflects on life's incompleteness, feeling overwhelmed by endless tasks and yearning for clarity amid chaos.
In simple terms: Life feels unfinished and chaotic, seeking clarity.
Simplify goals and find moments of stillness.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- daily routine
- creative writing
- personal introspection
- travel planning
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- How can one break free from endless obligations?
- What does “climbing the stair” symbolize for personal growth?
The passage may romanticize indecision, hindering action.