--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In any case life is but a procession of…" description: "\"In any case life is but a procession of shadows, and God knows why it is that we embrace them so eagerly, and see them depart with such anguish, being ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d4/virginia-woolf-49_anguish_in-any-case-life-is-but-a-procession-of_2461809.jpg" --- # In any case life is but a procession of shadows, and God… ![“In any case life is but a procession of shadows, and God knows why it is that we embrace them so eagerly, and see them depart with such anguish, being shadows.” quote by Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d4/virginia-woolf-49_anguish_in-any-case-life-is-but-a-procession-of_2461809.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d4/virginia-woolf-49_anguish_in-any-case-life-is-but-a-procession-of_2461809.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d4/virginia-woolf-49_anguish_in-any-case-life-is-but-a-procession-of_2461809.jpg) > “In any case life is but a procession of shadows, and God knows why it is that we embrace them so eagerly, and see them depart with such anguish, being shadows.” [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. Life is a series of fleeting moments, embraced eagerly yet causing sorrow when they pass. **In simple terms:** Life’s moments are fleeting and bittersweet. Key Takeaway Cherish each moment despite its transience. Themes existence transience emotion Mood poetic melancholic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - mindfulness practice - artistic reflection - grief counseling - philosophical contemplation Key Concepts impermanence beauty melancholy Questions to Reflect On - How do you find meaning in fleeting moments? - What practices help accept loss? A Different Perspective Focusing on impermanence may cause anxiety. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anguish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anguish/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Shadow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shadow/) [Shadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shadows/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) ## Related quotes > [A painting is complete when it has the shadows of a god.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rembrandt/a-painting-is-complete-when-it-has-the-shadows-of-a-god/) [Rembrandt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rembrandt/) > [“The shadows in God's boarded-up basement.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-marion/the-shadows-in-god-s-boarded-up-basement/) [Isaac Marion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-marion/) > [I can no longer believe in any voodoo spell or laboratory virus. This is something deeper, darker. This comes from the cosmos, from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-marion/i-can-no-longer-believe-in-any-voodoo-spell-or-laboratory-virus-this/) [Isaac Marion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-marion/) > [“Life is a procession of painful lessons, and how precious those lessons are; so precious that we rejoice in the bitter-sweet gift of life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/life-is-a-procession-of-painful-lessons-and-how-precious-those/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [For to be idle is to become a stranger unto the seasons, and to step out of life’s procession that marches in majesty and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khalil-gibran/for-to-be-idle-is-to-become-a-stranger-unto-the-seasons-and-to-step/) [Khalil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khalil-gibran/) > [The beauty of the world, which is so soon to perish, has two edges, one of laughter, one of anguish, cutting the heart asunder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/the-beauty-of-the-world-which-is-so-soon-to-perish-has-two-edges-one/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [I want some one to sit beside after the day's pursuit and all its anguish, after its listening, its waitings, and its suspicions. After…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/i-want-some-one-to-sit-beside-after-the-day-s-pursuit-and-all-its/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [I saw my parents as gods whose every wish must be obeyed or I would suffer the penalty of anguish and guilt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-wood/i-saw-my-parents-as-gods-whose-every-wish-must-be-obeyed-or-i-would/) [Natalie Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-wood/) > [The intellectuals' chief cause of anguish are one another's works. Jacques Barzun, 1959 all ignorance toboggans into know and trudges up to ignorance again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings/the-intellectuals-chief-cause-of-anguish-are-one-another-s-works/) [e. e. cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings/) > [Being human, we would expel from our lives physical pain and mental anguish and assure ourselves of continual ease and comfort, but if we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-w-kimball/being-human-we-would-expel-from-our-lives-physical-pain-and-mental/) [Spencer W. Kimball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-w-kimball/) > [Our religion is itself profoundly sad - a religion of universal anguish, and one which, because of its very catholicity, grants full liberty to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/our-religion-is-itself-profoundly-sad-a-religion-of-universal-anguish/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Memory, with its fugitive adjustments, is the merciful veil to the grim enactments of the first law. It hides the anguish in the human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-aumonier/memory-with-its-fugitive-adjustments-is-the-merciful-veil-to-the-grim/) [Stacy Aumonier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-aumonier/) > [pg.9 "In my heart there's a peaceful anguish, and my calm is made of resignation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/pg-9-in-my-heart-there-s-a-peaceful-anguish-and-my-calm-is-made-of/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [Knowledge gives a wider choice and more anguish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-florman/knowledge-gives-a-wider-choice-and-more-anguish/) [Samuel Florman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-florman/) > [“He put his forehead against hers. “Alannah, my heart is yours.” He said softly. “And yet, I must hand it over to someone else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-c-morin/he-put-his-forehead-against-hers-alannah-my-heart-is-yours-he-said/) [B.C. Morin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-morin/) ## 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. She felt very young; at the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/she-would-not-say-of-anyone-in-the-world-now-that-they-were-this-or/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) [Explore all 1,872 Virginia Woolf quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) ## More Anguish quotes > [“He put his forehead against hers. “Alannah, my heart is yours.” He said softly. “And yet, I must hand it over to someone else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-c-morin/he-put-his-forehead-against-hers-alannah-my-heart-is-yours-he-said/) [B.C. Morin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-morin/) > [Knowledge gives a wider choice and more anguish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-florman/knowledge-gives-a-wider-choice-and-more-anguish/) [Samuel Florman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-florman/) > [pg.9 "In my heart there's a peaceful anguish, and my calm is made of resignation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/pg-9-in-my-heart-there-s-a-peaceful-anguish-and-my-calm-is-made-of/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [Memory, with its fugitive adjustments, is the merciful veil to the grim enactments of the first law. It hides the anguish in the human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-aumonier/memory-with-its-fugitive-adjustments-is-the-merciful-veil-to-the-grim/) [Stacy Aumonier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-aumonier/) > [Our religion is itself profoundly sad - a religion of universal anguish, and one which, because of its very catholicity, grants full liberty to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/our-religion-is-itself-profoundly-sad-a-religion-of-universal-anguish/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Being human, we would expel from our lives physical pain and mental anguish and assure ourselves of continual ease and comfort, but if we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-w-kimball/being-human-we-would-expel-from-our-lives-physical-pain-and-mental/) [Spencer W. Kimball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-w-kimball/) > [The intellectuals' chief cause of anguish are one another's works. Jacques Barzun, 1959 all ignorance toboggans into know and trudges up to ignorance again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings/the-intellectuals-chief-cause-of-anguish-are-one-another-s-works/) [e. e. cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings/) > [I saw my parents as gods whose every wish must be obeyed or I would suffer the penalty of anguish and guilt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-wood/i-saw-my-parents-as-gods-whose-every-wish-must-be-obeyed-or-i-would/) [Natalie Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-wood/) > [Every last cast is actually a first cast. The first cast and first chance to catch the next fish. The next time you anguish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-bishop/every-last-cast-is-actually-a-first-cast-the-first-cast-and-first/) [Tony Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-bishop/) > [Journalism is an extraordinary and terrible privilege. Not by chance, if you are aware of it, does it consume you with a hundred feelings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oriana-fallaci/journalism-is-an-extraordinary-and-terrible-privilege-not-by-chance/) [Oriana Fallaci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oriana-fallaci/) > [I have discovered in my long life that there are many words and phrases which have more power than any spell of magick. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-gemmell/i-have-discovered-in-my-long-life-that-there-are-many-words-and/) [David Gemmell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-gemmell/) > [One realizes that human relationships are the tragic necessity of human life; that they can never be wholly satisfactory, that every ego is half…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/one-realizes-that-human-relationships-are-the-tragic-necessity-of/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [I have designed my style pantomimes as white ink drawings on black backgrounds, so that man's destiny appears as a thread lost in an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-marceau/i-have-designed-my-style-pantomimes-as-white-ink-drawings-on-black/) [Marcel Marceau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-marceau/) > [So silently, peacefully, without hurry, without any tension, without any anguish, move into yourself instantly. It is urgent. Unless meditation becomes urgent to you,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/so-silently-peacefully-without-hurry-without-any-tension-without-any/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [It breaks my heart to think about a family weeping over the loss of a loved one. I understand the anguish that some feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-p-bush/it-breaks-my-heart-to-think-about-a-family-weeping-over-the-loss-of-a/) [George P. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-p-bush/) [Browse all 570 Anguish quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anguish/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In any case life is but a procession of shadows, and God knows why it is that we embrace them so eagerly, and see them depart with such anguish, being shadows.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Virginia Woolf" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/in-any-case-life-is-but-a-procession-of-shadows-and-god-knows-why-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Anguish" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/in-any-case-life-is-but-a-procession-of-shadows-and-god-knows-why-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d4/virginia-woolf-49_anguish_in-any-case-life-is-but-a-procession-of_2461809.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d4/virginia-woolf-49_anguish_in-any-case-life-is-but-a-procession-of_2461809.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d4/virginia-woolf-49_anguish_in-any-case-life-is-but-a-procession-of_2461809.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In any case life is but a procession of shadows, and God knows why it is that we embrace them so eagerly…” — 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": "In any case life is but...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/in-any-case-life-is-but-a-procession-of-shadows-and-god-knows-why-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/in-any-case-life-is-but-a-procession-of-shadows-and-god-knows-why-it/#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 } } ] } ```