Lily-briscoe Quote by Virginia Woolf
““Why then did she do it? She looked at the canvas, lightly scored with running lines. It would be hung in the servants' bedrooms. It would be rolled up and stuffed under a sofa. What was the good of doing it then, and she heard some voice saying she couldn't paint, saying she couldn't create, as if she were caught up in one of those habitual currents in which after a certain time experience forms in the mind, so that one repeats words without being aware any longer who originally spoke them.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, 1925
The passage explores self‑doubt and the internalized voice that silences creativity, showing how habitual thoughts can mask original intent.
In simple terms: Self‑doubt d creative voice.
Key Takeaway
Recognize and question inner criticism.
Themes
creativity
self‑doubt
identity
habit
voice
Mood
reflective
melancholic
introspective
Type
literary
philosophical
psychological
When to use this quote
- artistic block
- writing
- personal reflection
- overcoming inhibition
Key Concepts
psychology
literary modernism
existentialism
Questions to Reflect On
- What habitual thoughts limit your creativity?
- How can you reclaim your original voice?
A Different Perspective
The inner critic can be a social pressure that stifles authentic expression.
![“[Her life] had taken on the shape of a terrible mistake. She hadn't been given the proper tools to make a real life with, she decided, that was it. She'd been given a can of gravy and a hair-brush and told, "There you go." She'd stood there for years, blinking and befuddled, brushing the can with…” quote by Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/d2b/lorrie-moore-870_brushes_her-life-had-taken-on-the-shape-of-a-ter_969343.jpg)
