--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In illness words seem to possess a mystic…" description: "\"In illness words seem to possess a mystic quality.\" — Virginia Woolf" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d36/virginia-woolf-49_illness_in-illness-words-seem-to-possess-a-mysti_2042837.jpg" --- # In illness words seem to possess a mystic quality. ![“In illness words seem to possess a mystic quality.” quote by Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d36/virginia-woolf-49_illness_in-illness-words-seem-to-possess-a-mysti_2042837.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d36/virginia-woolf-49_illness_in-illness-words-seem-to-possess-a-mysti_2042837.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d36/virginia-woolf-49_illness_in-illness-words-seem-to-possess-a-mysti_2042837.jpg) > “In illness words seem to possess a mystic quality.” [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. Illness can feel mysterious, revealing deeper truths about experience and perception. **In simple terms:** Sickness feels mysterious, exposing hidden truths. Key Takeaway Explore the meaning behind illness. Themes illness perception existential Mood reflective poetic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal health crises - creative writing - therapy sessions Key Concepts psychology literature Questions to Reflect On - How does language shape our view of disease? - Can mystery hinder treatment? A Different Perspective Mystery may obscure practical medical care. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Illness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illness/) [Mystic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mystic/) [Quality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quality/) [Words](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/words/) ## Related quotes > [“...words possess power, whether they are names given to children, curses spoken to enemies, blessings offered to our loved ones, or even haphazard advice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-seay/words-possess-power-whether-they-are-names-given-to-children-curses/) [Chris Seay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-seay/) > [“Why certainly, words possess power.  They do!  But releasing their magic requires combining and arranging those words in the right order.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-e-goodrich/why-certainly-words-possess-power-they-do-but-releasing-their-magic/) [Richelle E. Goodrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-e-goodrich/) > [For me words still possess their primitive, mystical, incantatory powers. I am inclined to use them as part of an attempt to make my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingrid-bengis/for-me-words-still-possess-their-primitive-mystical-incantatory/) [Ingrid Bengis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingrid-bengis/) > [Words possess primitive mystical incantatory healing powers... Their articulation represents a complete, lived experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingrid-bengis/words-possess-primitive-mystical-incantatory-healing-powers-their/) [Ingrid Bengis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingrid-bengis/) > [The old idea that words possess magical powers is false; but its falsity is the distortion of a very important truth. Words do have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/the-old-idea-that-words-possess-magical-powers-is-false-but-its/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [For there is a virtue in truth; it has an almost mystic power. Like radium, it seems to give off forever and ever grains…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/for-there-is-a-virtue-in-truth-it-has-an-almost-mystic-power-like/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“The body after long illness is languid, passive, receptive of sweetness, but too weak to contain it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/the-body-after-long-illness-is-languid-passive-receptive-of-sweetness/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [ “\[W\]e cease to be soldiers in the army of the upright; we become deserters. They march to battle. We float with the sticks on… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/w-e-cease-to-be-soldiers-in-the-army-of-the-upright-we-become/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“Only God - only Love gets to define us. Anything else is a mere shadow at best and an outright lie at worst.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-toon/only-god-only-love-gets-to-define-us-anything-else-is-a-mere-shadow/) [Catherine Toon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-toon/) > [Anywhere everywhere! Anything anyhow! just dance!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/anywhere-everywhere-anything-anyhow-just-dance/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [A Sufi mystic who had always remained happy was asked… For seventy years people had watched him, he had never been found sad. 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A language of no boundaries is no language at all, and thus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-wilber/a-language-possesses-utility-only-insofar-as-it-can-construct/) [Ken Wilber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-wilber/) ## 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. 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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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But actually, it is about allowing myself to take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sometimes-i-get-afraid-it-has-defined-me-that-sense-of-grief-loss-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It's more common than not that bipolar illness will start in the teens. One of the reasons I spend a lot of time on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kay-redfield-jamison/it-s-more-common-than-not-that-bipolar-illness-will-start-in-the/) [Kay Redfield Jamison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kay-redfield-jamison/) > [You cannot drive a system that's going to be aiming at preventing illness if everyone is not in it. The whole gaming of health…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-oz/you-cannot-drive-a-system-that-s-going-to-be-aiming-at-preventing/) [Mehmet Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-oz/) > [There are people with much bigger profiles than mine who are talking about mental illness. 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