---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is as if Emily Brontë could tear up…"
description: "\"It is as if Emily Brontë could tear up all that we know human beings by, and fill these unrecognizable transparencies with such a gust of life that the..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac6/virginia-woolf-49_humans_it-is-as-if-emily-bront-could-tear-up-al_2325074.jpg"
---

#  It is as if Emily Brontë could tear up all that we know…

![“It is as if Emily Brontë could tear up all that we know human beings by, and fill these unrecognizable transparencies with such a gust of life that they transcend reality.” quote by Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac6/virginia-woolf-49_humans_it-is-as-if-emily-bront-could-tear-up-al_2325074.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac6/virginia-woolf-49_humans_it-is-as-if-emily-bront-could-tear-up-al_2325074.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac6/virginia-woolf-49_humans_it-is-as-if-emily-bront-could-tear-up-al_2325074.jpg)

> “It is as if Emily Brontë could tear up all that we know human beings by, and fill these unrecognizable transparencies with such a gust of life that they transcend reality.”

[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.

Emily Brontë’s work can shatter ordinary perception, filling it with vivid life that feels beyond reality.

**In simple terms:** Brontë’s writing transforms reality with intense, vivid imagination.

Key Takeaway

Seek works that challenge and expand perception.

Themes

art perception imagination

Mood

thoughtful intense

Type

literary inspirational

When to use this quote

- reading classic literature
- creative writing
- art criticism

Key Concepts

transcendence literary intensity

Questions to Reflect On

- What makes a text feel beyond reality?
- How does intense imagination affect emotional response?

A Different Perspective

Such intensity can alienate some readers.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) [Tears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tears/) [Transparency](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/transparency/)

## Related quotes

> [“...books, ingeniously coupled with music and alcohol, enabled the Irish to transcend reality.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-queenan/books-ingeniously-coupled-with-music-and-alcohol-enabled-the-irish-to/)

[Joe Queenan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-queenan/)

> [I think all kinds of meanings in life transcend your self. They're linked to other generations of people around us, to our children and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/i-think-all-kinds-of-meanings-in-life-transcend-your-self-they-re/)

[Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/)

> [There are many ways to be free. One of them is to transcend reality by imagination, as I try to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/there-are-many-ways-to-be-free-one-of-them-is-to-transcend-reality-by/)

[Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/)

> [Poems and songs penned as an unstoppable outpouring of the heart take on a life of their own. They transcend the limits of nationality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daisaku-ikeda/poems-and-songs-penned-as-an-unstoppable-outpouring-of-the-heart-take/)

[Daisaku Ikeda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daisaku-ikeda/)

> [“For your every tear, know that I'll always be here. To bare one pain we both will share, know I'll never disappear.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-liccione/for-your-every-tear-know-that-i-ll-always-be-here-to-bare-one-pain-we/)

[Anthony Liccione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-liccione/)

> [I miss you, I miss your smile &amp; I still shed a tear every once in a while, because I know that you dont…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-miss-you-i-miss-your-smile-i-still-shed-a-tear-every-once-in-a/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“When, however, one reads of a witch being ducked, of a woman possessed by devils, of a wise woman selling herbs, or even of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/when-however-one-reads-of-a-witch-being-ducked-of-a-woman-possessed-2/)

[Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

> [“Yet genius of a sort must have existed among women as it must have existed among the working classes. Now and again an Emily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/yet-genius-of-a-sort-must-have-existed-among-women-as-it-must-have/)

[Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

> ['Wuthering Heights' by Emily Bronte has been my all-time favorite book since I was in middle school.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-serle/wuthering-heights-by-emily-bronte-has-been-my-all-time-favorite-book/)

[Rebecca Serle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-serle/)

> [“What do you think is my favourite book? Just now, I mean; I change every three days. "Wuthering Heights." Emily Bronte was quite young…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-webster/what-do-you-think-is-my-favourite-book-just-now-i-mean-i-change-every/)

[Jean Webster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-webster/)

> [Now that my kids are out of the house, I'm finally able to get to the classics I never read: Emily Bronte, Dylan Thomas,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-wright/now-that-my-kids-are-out-of-the-house-i-m-finally-able-to-get-to-the/)

[Robin Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-wright/)

> [“Sensuality does not wear a watch but she always gets to the essential places on time. She is adventurous and not particularly quiet. She…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-ruth-gendler/sensuality-does-not-wear-a-watch-but-she-always-gets-to-the-essential/)

[J. Ruth Gendler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-ruth-gendler/)

> [“Wuthering Heights, however it may appear in retrospect, demands a reading of the utmost intensity, the feeling present in the writing seems to seek…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-gregor/wuthering-heights-however-it-may-appear-in-retrospect-demands-a/)

[Ian Gregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-gregor/)

> [“I know more about Emily Bronte than anyone I know. I know enough about her family to have been a part. I’ve walked with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chila-woychik/i-know-more-about-emily-bronte-than-anyone-i-know-i-know-enough-about/)

[Chila Woychik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chila-woychik/)

> [“Some people are very unfulfilled. In consequence they write passionately good romance because they believe that they could still find happiness. Emily Bronte was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bingham/some-people-are-very-unfulfilled-in-consequence-they-write/)

[Charlotte Bingham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bingham/)

## 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 &amp; 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 Humans quotes

> [Entertainment is a sacred pursuit when done well. When done well, it raises the quality of human life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/entertainment-is-a-sacred-pursuit-when-done-well-when-done-well-it/)

[Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/)

> [It is said that history turns on small hinges. A human career, too, results from an accumulating series of decisions about large and small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/it-is-said-that-history-turns-on-small-hinges-a-human-career-too/)

[Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/)

> [There is no human nature, since there is no god to conceive it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/there-is-no-human-nature-since-there-is-no-god-to-conceive-it/)

[Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/)

> [The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he postulates. Not only does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-prophet-who-fails-to-present-a-bearable-alternative-and-yet/)

[Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/)

> [Nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature... what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action. If you know these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bernbach/nothing-is-so-powerful-as-an-insight-into-human-nature-what/)

[William Bernbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bernbach/)

> [Houses are like the human beings that inhabit them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/houses-are-like-the-human-beings-that-inhabit-them/)

[Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/)

> [Never underestimate the power of the human mind to believe what it wants to believe, no matter the conflicting evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-herbert/never-underestimate-the-power-of-the-human-mind-to-believe-what-it/)

[Brian Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-herbert/)

> [Humans are animals too, but some do not like to work from expectations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/humans-are-animals-too-but-some-do-not-like-to-work-from-expectations/)

Mak\_786

> [Humans are, as Sartre put it, 'condemned to be free'. To insist that science, or God, objectively defines moral values is to abandon our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenan-malik/humans-are-as-sartre-put-it-condemned-to-be-free-to-insist-that/)

Kenan Malik

> [Human beings have an innate inner drive to be autonomous, self-determined, and connected to one another. And when that drive is liberated, people achieve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-h-pink/human-beings-have-an-innate-inner-drive-to-be-autonomous-self/)

[Daniel H. Pink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-h-pink/)

> [Half the misery of human life might be extinguished if men would alleviate the general curse they lie under by mutual offices of compassion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/half-the-misery-of-human-life-might-be-extinguished-if-men-would/)

[Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/)

> [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/)

[Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/)

> [When grubbing for necessities man is still an animal. He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous and extravagant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/when-grubbing-for-necessities-man-is-still-an-animal-he-becomes/)

[Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/)

> [I think the next 50 years are going to present the human race with challenges that so far exceed the limitations of geopolitical boundaries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zachary-quinto/i-think-the-next-50-years-are-going-to-present-the-human-race-with/)

[Zachary Quinto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zachary-quinto/)

> [A Light exists in Spring Not present on the Year At any other period - When March is scarcely here A Color stands abroad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/a-light-exists-in-spring-not-present-on-the-year-at-any-other-period/)

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

[Browse all 32,126 Humans quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "It is as if Emily Brontë could tear up all that we know human beings by, and fill these unrecognizable transparencies with such a gust of life that they transcend reality.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Virginia Woolf"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/it-is-as-if-emily-bront-could-tear-up-all-that-we-know-human-beings/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Humans"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/it-is-as-if-emily-bront-could-tear-up-all-that-we-know-human-beings/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac6/virginia-woolf-49_humans_it-is-as-if-emily-bront-could-tear-up-al_2325074.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac6/virginia-woolf-49_humans_it-is-as-if-emily-bront-could-tear-up-al_2325074.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac6/virginia-woolf-49_humans_it-is-as-if-emily-bront-could-tear-up-al_2325074.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“It is as if Emily Brontë could tear up all that we know human beings by, and fill these unrecognizable…” — 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": "It is as if Emily Brontë...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/it-is-as-if-emily-bront-could-tear-up-all-that-we-know-human-beings/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/it-is-as-if-emily-bront-could-tear-up-all-that-we-know-human-beings/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
