--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As for the other experiences, the…" description: "\"“As for the other experiences, the solitary ones, which people go through alone, in their bedrooms, in their offices, walking the fields and the street..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f8/virginia-woolf-49_books_as-for-the-other-experiences-the-solitar_2195809.jpg" --- # As for the other experiences, the solitary ones, which… ![“As for the other experiences, the solitary ones, which people go through alone, in their bedrooms, in their offices, walking the fields and the streets of London, he had them; had left home, a mere boy, because of his mother; she lied; because he came down to tea for the fiftieth time with his…” quote by Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f8/virginia-woolf-49_books_as-for-the-other-experiences-the-solitar_2195809.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f8/virginia-woolf-49_books_as-for-the-other-experiences-the-solitar_2195809.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f8/virginia-woolf-49_books_as-for-the-other-experiences-the-solitar_2195809.jpg) > ““As for the other experiences, the solitary ones, which people go through alone, in their bedrooms, in their offices, walking the fields and the streets of London, he had them; had left home, a mere boy, because of his mother; she lied; because he came down to tea for the fiftieth time with his hands unwashed; because he could see no future for a poet in Stroud; and so, making a confidant of his little sister, had gone to London leaving an absurd note behind him, such as great men have written, and the world has read later when the story of their struggles has become famous. London has swallowed up many millions of young men called Smith; thought nothing of fantastic Christian names like Septimus with which their parents have thought to distinguish them. Lodging off the Euston Road, there were experiences, again experiences, such as change a face in two years from a pink innocent oval to a face lean, contracted, hostile. But of all this what could the most observant of friends have said except what a gardener says when he opens the conservatory door in the morning and finds a new blossom on his plant: — It has flowered; flowered from vanity, ambition, idealism, passion, loneliness, courage, laziness, the usual seeds, which all muddled up (in a room off the Euston Road), made him shy, and stammering, made him anxious to improve himself, made him fall in love with Miss Isabel Pole, lecturing in the Waterloo Road upon Shakespeare. Was he not like Keats? she asked; and reflected how she might give him a taste of Antony and Cleopatra and the rest; lent him books; wrote him scraps of letters; and lit in him”” [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage reflects on solitary experiences shaping a young man's transformation in London, likening his growth to a flower blooming from varied human emotions and ambitions. **In simple terms:** Lonely experiences in London shape a young man's growth like a blooming flower. Key Takeaway Embrace varied experiences to foster personal growth. Themes identity growth loneliness ambition transformation Mood reflective melancholic hopeful Type literary philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - young adulthood - urban migration - creative development - romantic pursuit Key Concepts existentialism psychology literary realism Questions to Reflect On - How do solitary experiences influence personal identity? - What role does environment play in shaping ambition? A Different Perspective The narrative may romanticize struggle, overlooking systemic barriers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Antony And Cleopatra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/antony-and-cleopatra/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Fall in love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fall-in-love/) [Great men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-men/) [Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/keats/) [Little sister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/little-sister/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Young men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young-men/) ## Related quotes > [“As for the other experiences, the solitary ones, which people go through alone, in their bedrooms, in their offices, walking the fields and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/as-for-the-other-experiences-the-solitary-ones-which-people-go-2/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [To like Keats is a test of fitness for understanding poetry, just as to like Shakespeare is a test of general mental capacity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-like-keats-is-a-test-of-fitness-for-understanding-poetry-just-as/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Like Keats he may wander through the old-world forests of Latmos, or stand like Morris on the galley’s deck with the Viking when king…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/like-keats-he-may-wander-through-the-old-world-forests-of-latmos-or/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“being an artist: "And this susceptibility of theirs is doubly unfortunate , I thought, returning again to my original enquiry into what state of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/being-an-artist-and-this-susceptibility-of-theirs-is-doubly/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“We are all women you assure me? 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Fucking pathetic, going on about the girl like he was Keats or something.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shayla-black/god-listen-to-him-fucking-pathetic-going-on-about-the-girl-like-he/) [Shayla Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shayla-black/) > [“It may take a decade or two before the extent of Shakespeare's collaboration passes from the graduate seminar to the undergraduate lecture, and finally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-shapiro/it-may-take-a-decade-or-two-before-the-extent-of-shakespeare-s/) [James Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-shapiro/) > [“While they were sitting in the room above his shop there had been a distance, and she had never feared—and never hoped— that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/while-they-were-sitting-in-the-room-above-his-shop-there-had-been-a/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [The language is always powerful in Shakespeare, but with 'Antony and Cleopatra,' the speeches are so big and muscular and rich - exhausting to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-walter/the-language-is-always-powerful-in-shakespeare-but-with-antony-and/) [Harriet Walter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-walter/) > [The theme of the dance was "Great Romances," or some such nonsense. There were projections of supposedly great couples from the past on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-zevin/the-theme-of-the-dance-was-great-romances-or-some-such-nonsense-there/) [Gabrielle Zevin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-zevin/) ## More by Virginia Woolf > [Fatigue is the safest sleeping draught.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/fatigue-is-the-safest-sleeping-draught/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“The train slows and lengthens, as we approach London, the centre, and my heart draws out too, in fear, in exaltation. I am about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/the-train-slows-and-lengthens-as-we-approach-london-the-centre-and-my/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“Across the broad continent of a woman's life falls the shadow of a sword. On one side all is correct, definite, orderly; the paths…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/across-the-broad-continent-of-a-woman-s-life-falls-the-shadow-of-a/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“Other worshipful objects were content with worship; men, women, God, all let one kneel prostrate; but this form, were it only the shape of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/other-worshipful-objects-were-content-with-worship-men-women-god-all/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [Why does Samuel Butler say, 'Wise men never say what they think of women'? Wise men never say anything else apparently.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/why-does-samuel-butler-say-wise-men-never-say-what-they-think-of/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“Sometimes he woke with a brain like lead; at others it was as if a thousand wax tapers were alight and people were throwing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/sometimes-he-woke-with-a-brain-like-lead-at-others-it-was-as-if-a/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [The extraordinary woman depends on the ordinary woman. It is only when we know what were the conditions of the average woman's life -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/the-extraordinary-woman-depends-on-the-ordinary-woman-it-is-only-when/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [A veil of insanity everywhere: Oh why I was born in this age? It is a terrible age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/a-veil-of-insanity-everywhere-oh-why-i-was-born-in-this-age-it-is-a/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [Love ought to stop on both sides, don’t you think, simultaneously?’ He spoke without any stress on the words, so as not to wake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/love-ought-to-stop-on-both-sides-don-t-you-think-simultaneously-he/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“It is so vast an alleviation to be able to point for another to look at. And then not to talk. To follow the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/it-is-so-vast-an-alleviation-to-be-able-to-point-for-another-to-look/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“What a vast fertility of pleasure books hold for me! (...) I think I could happily live here & read forever.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/what-a-vast-fertility-of-pleasure-books-hold-for-me-i-think-i-could/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“what a luxury to be alone once more,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/what-a-luxury-to-be-alone-once-more/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“...a woman writing thinks back through her mothers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/a-woman-writing-thinks-back-through-her-mothers/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“For one's children so often gave one's own perceptions a little thrust forwards.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/for-one-s-children-so-often-gave-one-s-own-perceptions-a-little/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“She would not say of anyone in the world now that they were this or were that. 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Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) Markus Herz > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“As for the other experiences, the solitary ones, which people go through alone, in their bedrooms, in their offices, walking the fields and the streets of London, he had them; had left home, a mere boy, because of his mother; she lied; because he came down to tea for the fiftieth time with his hands unwashed; because he could see no future for a poet in Stroud; and so, making a confidant of his little sister, had gone to London leaving an absurd note behind him, such as great men have written, and the world has read later when the story of their struggles has become famous. London has swallowed up many millions of young men called Smith; thought nothing of fantastic Christian names like Septimus with which their parents have thought to distinguish them. Lodging off the Euston Road, there were experiences, again experiences, such as change a face in two years from a pink innocent oval to a face lean, contracted, hostile. But of all this what could the most observant of friends have said except what a gardener says when he opens the conservatory door in the morning and finds a new blossom on his plant: — It has flowered; flowered from vanity, ambition, idealism, passion, loneliness, courage, laziness, the usual seeds, which all muddled up (in a room off the Euston Road), made him shy, and stammering, made him anxious to improve himself, made him fall in love with Miss Isabel Pole, lecturing in the Waterloo Road upon Shakespeare. Was he not like Keats? she asked; and reflected how she might give him a taste of Antony and Cleopatra and the rest; lent him books; wrote him scraps of letters; and lit in him”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Virginia Woolf" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/as-for-the-other-experiences-the-solitary-ones-which-people-go/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/as-for-the-other-experiences-the-solitary-ones-which-people-go/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f8/virginia-woolf-49_books_as-for-the-other-experiences-the-solitar_2195809.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f8/virginia-woolf-49_books_as-for-the-other-experiences-the-solitar_2195809.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f8/virginia-woolf-49_books_as-for-the-other-experiences-the-solitar_2195809.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“As for the other experiences, the solitary ones, which people go through alone, in their bedrooms, in their…” — Virginia Woolf", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Virginia Woolf", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“As for the other experiences, the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/as-for-the-other-experiences-the-solitary-ones-which-people-go/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/as-for-the-other-experiences-the-solitary-ones-which-people-go/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```