Adventure Quote by Virginia Woolf
““My great adventure is really Proust. Well-- what remains to be written after that? I’m only in the first volume, and there are, I suppose, faults to be found, but I am in a state of amazement; as if a miracle were being done before my eyes. How, at last, has someone solidified what has always escaped--and made it too into this beautiful and perfectly enduring substance? One has to put the book down and gasp. The pleasure becomes physical--like sun and wine and grapes and perfect serenity and intense vitality combined. Far otherwise is it with Ulysses; to which I bind myself like a martyr to a stake, and have thank God, now finished-- My martyrdom is over. I hope to sell it for £4.10.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, 1925
Woolf describes the awe of creating a work that captures elusive, enduring truth, comparing it to a physical, ecstatic experience.
In simple terms: Creating lasting art feels like a miraculous, physical joy.
Key Takeaway
Embrace the wonder of creation.
Themes
creativity
art
miracle
exhilaration
Mood
exhilarated
reflective
Type
literary
philosophical
When to use this quote
- writing a novel
- artistic breakthrough
- personal fulfillment
Key Concepts
Literary modernism
aesthetic experience
transcendence
Questions to Reflect On
- How does one sustain inspiration after a breakthrough?
- What does it mean to sell art for modest gain?
A Different Perspective
The euphoria may fade after completion, leading to doubt.
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![“A man [Joyce] whose earliest stories appeared next to the manure prices in the Irish Homestead knew that columns of prose, like columns of shit, could both recultivate the earth.” quote by Declan Kiberd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/cfe/declan-kiberd-65721_fiction_a-man-joyce-whose-earliest-stories-appea_615934.jpg)
![“I've used the Phoenix Centrifuge to replicate what the body's going to go through on the flight up. I've also done some gravity tests with ZERO-G [a charter-flight service in Arlington, Va., that uses modified Boeing 727s to simulate weightlessness], which went great.” quote by Richard Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/aa1/richard-branson-256_adventure_i-ve-used-the-phoenix-centrifuge-to-repl_903.jpg)
