--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Memory is the seamstress, and a…" description: "\"Memory is the seamstress, and a capricious one at that. Memory runs her needle in and out, up and down, hither and thither. We know not what comes next..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/077/virginia-woolf-49_capricious_memory-is-the-seamstress-and-a-capriciou_2510203.jpg" --- # Memory is the seamstress, and a capricious one at that… ![“Memory is the seamstress, and a capricious one at that. Memory runs her needle in and out, up and down, hither and thither. We know not what comes next, or what follows after. Thus, the most ordinary movement in the world, such as sitting down at a table and pulling the inkstand towards one, may…” quote by Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/077/virginia-woolf-49_capricious_memory-is-the-seamstress-and-a-capriciou_2510203.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/077/virginia-woolf-49_capricious_memory-is-the-seamstress-and-a-capriciou_2510203.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/077/virginia-woolf-49_capricious_memory-is-the-seamstress-and-a-capriciou_2510203.jpg) > “Memory is the seamstress, and a capricious one at that. Memory runs her needle in and out, up and down, hither and thither. We know not what comes next, or what follows after. Thus, the most ordinary movement in the world, such as sitting down at a table and pulling the inkstand towards one, may agitate a thousand odd, disconnected fragments, now bright, now dim, hanging and bobbing and dipping and flaunting, like the underlinen of a family of fourteen on a line in a gale of wind.” [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. Memory is unpredictable, stitching together fragments that can shift perception with ordinary actions. **In simple terms:** Memory is unpredictable and shapes perception. Key Takeaway Accept memory’s fluidity and stay present. Themes memory perception uncertainty Mood reflective introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - daily routines - creative writing - therapy - learning new skills Key Concepts psychology subjectivity fragmentation Questions to Reflect On - How does memory influence your daily decisions? - Can you trust your recollections? A Different Perspective Memory can be unreliable, leading to false conclusions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Capricious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/capricious/) [Capricious Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/capricious-memory-1147781/) [Flaunting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flaunting/) [Fourteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fourteen/) [Fragments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fragments/) [Gale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gale/) [Inkstand Agitate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inkstand-agitate-1147783/) [Lines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lines/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Memories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memories/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Memory Runs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory-runs-1147782/) [Memory Seamstress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory-seamstress-1147780/) [Movement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/movement/) [Needles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needles/) [Next](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/next/) [Odd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/odd/) [Ordinary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ordinary/) [Pulling Inkstand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pulling-inkstand-1147784/) [Running](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/running/) [Sitting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sitting/) [Sitting down](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sitting-down/) [Tables](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tables/) [Thousand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand/) [Wind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wind/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“Memory is the seamstress, and a capricious one at that. Memory runs her needle in and out, up and down, hither and thither. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/memory-is-the-seamstress-and-a-capricious-one-at-that-memory-runs-her/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“Memory is the seamstress, and a capricious one at that. Memory runs her needle in and out, up and down, hither and thither. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/memory-is-the-seamstress-and-a-capricious-one-at-that-memory-runs-her-3/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [I have been into bodies and fitness, so I am very critical about how a body should look in terms of flaunting it. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bipasha-basu/i-have-been-into-bodies-and-fitness-so-i-am-very-critical-about-how-a/) [Bipasha Basu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bipasha-basu/) > [Just because gladiator shoes are in, everybody can't start flaunting those.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amrita-rao/just-because-gladiator-shoes-are-in-everybody-can-t-start-flaunting/) [Amrita Rao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amrita-rao/) > [Gorgeous flowerets in the sunlight shining, Blossoms flaunting in the eye of day, Tremulous leaves, with soft and silver lining, Buds that open only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/gorgeous-flowerets-in-the-sunlight-shining-blossoms-flaunting-in-the/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [Here 's to the maiden of bashful fifteen; Here 's to the widow of fifty; Here 's to the flaunting, extravagant queen, And here…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brinsley-sheridan/here-s-to-the-maiden-of-bashful-fifteen-here-s-to-the-widow-of-fifty/) [Richard Brinsley Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brinsley-sheridan/) > [I think the silhouette of the kimono costume will become engraved in people's minds. I do think there'll be lots of red accents in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-atwood/i-think-the-silhouette-of-the-kimono-costume-will-become-engraved-in/) [Colleen Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-atwood/) > [The sensitiveness claimed by neurotic is matched by their egotism: they cannot abide the flaunting by others of the sufferings to which they pay…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/the-sensitiveness-claimed-by-neurotic-is-matched-by-their-egotism/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Just because I'm flaunting it doesn't mean you can stare for hours on end. A polite ogle is appreciated and suitable for a flaunt.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-macalister/just-because-i-m-flaunting-it-doesn-t-mean-you-can-stare-for-hours-on/) [Katie MacAlister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-macalister/) > [They trespassed upon my thoughts. They were intruders whose knowledge of life was to me an irritating pretense, because I felt so sure they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/they-trespassed-upon-my-thoughts-they-were-intruders-whose-knowledge/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [It’s a sort of furtiveness … Like we were a generation of furtive. You know, with an inner knowledge there’s no use flaunting on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/it-s-a-sort-of-furtiveness-like-we-were-a-generation-of-furtive-you/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [Why do women want to dress like men when they’re fortunate enough to be women? Why lose femininity, which is one of our greatest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tasha-tudor/why-do-women-want-to-dress-like-men-when-they-re-fortunate-enough-to-2/) [Tasha Tudor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tasha-tudor/) > [You don't have to flaunt your success, but you don't have to apologize for it, either](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-stallings/you-don-t-have-to-flaunt-your-success-but-you-don-t-have-to-apologize/) [Gene Stallings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-stallings/) > [It is only in retrospect that the high points of our lives rise up, flaunting banners.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-pratt/it-is-only-in-retrospect-that-the-high-points-of-our-lives-rise-up/) [Caroline Pratt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-pratt/) > [In sports teams, apart from talk of sporting prowess and the imparting of inspirational thought, an extraordinary amount of time is spent discussing, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harsha-bhogle/in-sports-teams-apart-from-talk-of-sporting-prowess-and-the-imparting/) [Harsha Bhogle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harsha-bhogle/) ## 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 Capricious quotes > [Not to be offensive, not to be capricious, not to be arbitrary, not to be neurotic, not to be an actor outer, you're just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hurt/not-to-be-offensive-not-to-be-capricious-not-to-be-arbitrary-not-to/) [William Hurt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hurt/) > [How dare you? How dare you create a world in which there is such misery that is not our fault? It's not right, it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/how-dare-you-how-dare-you-create-a-world-in-which-there-is-such/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) > [O Logic: born gatekeeper to the Temple of Science, victim of capricious destiny: doomed hitherto to be the drudge of pedants: come to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-bentham/o-logic-born-gatekeeper-to-the-temple-of-science-victim-of-capricious/) [Jeremy Bentham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-bentham/) > [Huamns, uregulated, are cruel and capricious; violet and selfish; miserable and quarrelsome. It is only after their instincts and basic emotions have been controlled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/huamns-uregulated-are-cruel-and-capricious-violet-and-selfish/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [Any test that turns on what is offensive to the community's standards is too loose, too capricious, too destructive of freedom of expression to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-o-douglas/any-test-that-turns-on-what-is-offensive-to-the-community-s-standards/) [William O. Douglas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-o-douglas/) > [Capricious, wanton, bold, and brutal Lust Is meanly selfish; when resisted, cruel; And, like the blast of Pestilential Winds, Taints the sweet bloom of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/capricious-wanton-bold-and-brutal-lust-is-meanly-selfish-when/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [The Greeks understood perfectly that if there were divine beings they are capricious, unkind, malicious mostly, temperamental, envious and mostly deeply unpleasant because that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/the-greeks-understood-perfectly-that-if-there-were-divine-beings-they/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) > [Like many air travelers, I am aware that airplanes fly aided by capricious fairies and invisible strings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-maarten-troost/like-many-air-travelers-i-am-aware-that-airplanes-fly-aided-by/) [J. Maarten Troost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-maarten-troost/) > [When you die, you are extinguished. From being you will be transformed to non-being. A god does not necessarily dwell among our capricious atoms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingmar-bergman/when-you-die-you-are-extinguished-from-being-you-will-be-transformed/) [Ingmar Bergman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingmar-bergman/) > [Society is capricious and rewards the bad as often as the good. But it never rewards the quiet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-quinn/society-is-capricious-and-rewards-the-bad-as-often-as-the-good-but-it/) [Julia Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-quinn/) > [Einstein repeatedly argued that there must be simplified explanations of nature, because God is not capricious or arbitrary. No such faith comforts the software…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/einstein-repeatedly-argued-that-there-must-be-simplified-explanations/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [For many people, God is a frightening idea. Asking God for help doesn't seem very comforting if we think of Him as something outside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/for-many-people-god-is-a-frightening-idea-asking-god-for-help-doesn-t/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [Evolution is, as well as smarter than we are, infinitely more callous and cruel, and also capricious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/evolution-is-as-well-as-smarter-than-we-are-infinitely-more-callous/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [A man who has cured himself of all ridiculous prepossessions, and is fully, sincerely, and steadily convinced, from experience as well as philosophy, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/a-man-who-has-cured-himself-of-all-ridiculous-prepossessions-and-is/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [Unconsciously, I fell in love with the small round sphere, with its amusing and capricious rebounds which sometimes play with me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fabien-barthez/unconsciously-i-fell-in-love-with-the-small-round-sphere-with-its/) [Fabien Barthez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fabien-barthez/) [Browse all 124 Capricious quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/capricious/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Memory is the seamstress, and a capricious one at that. Memory runs her needle in and out, up and down, hither and thither. We know not what comes next, or what follows after. 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