--- 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 nex..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d13/virginia-woolf-49_memory_memory-is-the-seamstress-and-a-capriciou_2084208.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/d13/virginia-woolf-49_memory_memory-is-the-seamstress-and-a-capriciou_2084208.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d13/virginia-woolf-49_memory_memory-is-the-seamstress-and-a-capriciou_2084208.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d13/virginia-woolf-49_memory_memory-is-the-seamstress-and-a-capriciou_2084208.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. Instead of being a single, downright, bluff piece of work of which no man need feel ashamed, our commonest deeds are set about with a fluttering and flickering of wings, a rising and falling of lights.”” [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 of experience that shape perception of ordinary actions. **In simple terms:** Memory mixes random bits, affecting how we see simple things. Key Takeaway Accept memory’s chaos, stay present. Themes memory perception subjectivity Mood reflective melancholic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - daily routines - creative writing - therapy - historical analysis Key Concepts psychology narrative fragmentation Questions to Reflect On - How does memory shape your identity? - Can you trust your recollections? A Different Perspective Memory can distort facts, leading to false confidence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) ## 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-2/) [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/) > [The mind is the most capricious of insects — flitting, fluttering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/the-mind-is-the-most-capricious-of-insects-flitting-fluttering/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [The mother-women seemed to prevail that summer at Grand Isle. It was easy to know them, fluttering about with extended, protecting wings when any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/the-mother-women-seemed-to-prevail-that-summer-at-grand-isle-it-was/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [“He felt a fluttering inside his chest that he mistook for an air pocket - probably left from when he pushed himself through the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-shusterman/he-felt-a-fluttering-inside-his-chest-that-he-mistook-for-an-air/) [Neal Shusterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-shusterman/) > [They watched storms out there so distant they could not be heard, the silent lightning flaring sheetwise and the thin black spine of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/they-watched-storms-out-there-so-distant-they-could-not-be-heard-the/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/fluttering-and-dancing-in-the-breeze/) [William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/) > [No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear. I am not afraid, but the sensation is like being afraid. The same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/no-one-ever-told-me-that-grief-felt-so-like-fear-i-am-not-afraid-but/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [From numberless books the fluttering reader, idle and inconstant, bears away the bloom that only clings to the outer leaf; but genius has its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/from-numberless-books-the-fluttering-reader-idle-and-inconstant-bears/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [“Necessity knows no magic formuae—they are all left to chance. If a love is to be unforgettable, fortuities must immediately start fluttering down to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/necessity-knows-no-magic-formuae-they-are-all-left-to-chance-if-a/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [What is more cheerful, now, in the fall of the year, than an open-wood-fire? Do you hear those little chirps and twitters coming out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/what-is-more-cheerful-now-in-the-fall-of-the-year-than-an-open-wood/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [The dragon-fly is dancing,— Is on the water glancing, She flits about with nimble wing, The flickering, fluttering, restless thing. Besotted chafers all admire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-heine/the-dragon-fly-is-dancing-is-on-the-water-glancing-she-flits-about/) [Heinrich Heine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-heine/) > [He was sailing over a boundless expanse of sea, with a blood-red sky above, and the angry waters, lashed into fury beneath, boiling and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/he-was-sailing-over-a-boundless-expanse-of-sea-with-a-blood-red-sky/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [When I'm manic, I'm so awake and alert, that my eyelashes fluttering on the pillow sound like thunder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-behrman/when-i-m-manic-i-m-so-awake-and-alert-that-my-eyelashes-fluttering-on/) [Andy Behrman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-behrman/) > [A room full of words that are nearly the truth but not quite, each note fluttering off the steam of its rose like a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/a-room-full-of-words-that-are-nearly-the-truth-but-not-quite-each/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) ## 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 Fluttering quotes > [A room full of words that are nearly the truth but not quite, each note fluttering off the steam of its rose like a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/a-room-full-of-words-that-are-nearly-the-truth-but-not-quite-each/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [When I'm manic, I'm so awake and alert, that my eyelashes fluttering on the pillow sound like thunder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-behrman/when-i-m-manic-i-m-so-awake-and-alert-that-my-eyelashes-fluttering-on/) [Andy Behrman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-behrman/) > [He was sailing over a boundless expanse of sea, with a blood-red sky above, and the angry waters, lashed into fury beneath, boiling and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/he-was-sailing-over-a-boundless-expanse-of-sea-with-a-blood-red-sky/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [The dragon-fly is dancing,— Is on the water glancing, She flits about with nimble wing, The flickering, fluttering, restless thing. Besotted chafers all admire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-heine/the-dragon-fly-is-dancing-is-on-the-water-glancing-she-flits-about/) [Heinrich Heine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-heine/) > [What is more cheerful, now, in the fall of the year, than an open-wood-fire? Do you hear those little chirps and twitters coming out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/what-is-more-cheerful-now-in-the-fall-of-the-year-than-an-open-wood/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [“Necessity knows no magic formuae—they are all left to chance. If a love is to be unforgettable, fortuities must immediately start fluttering down to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/necessity-knows-no-magic-formuae-they-are-all-left-to-chance-if-a/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [From numberless books the fluttering reader, idle and inconstant, bears away the bloom that only clings to the outer leaf; but genius has its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/from-numberless-books-the-fluttering-reader-idle-and-inconstant-bears/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear. I am not afraid, but the sensation is like being afraid. The same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/no-one-ever-told-me-that-grief-felt-so-like-fear-i-am-not-afraid-but/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/fluttering-and-dancing-in-the-breeze/) [William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/) > [They watched storms out there so distant they could not be heard, the silent lightning flaring sheetwise and the thin black spine of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/they-watched-storms-out-there-so-distant-they-could-not-be-heard-the/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“He felt a fluttering inside his chest that he mistook for an air pocket - probably left from when he pushed himself through the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-shusterman/he-felt-a-fluttering-inside-his-chest-that-he-mistook-for-an-air/) [Neal Shusterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-shusterman/) > [The mother-women seemed to prevail that summer at Grand Isle. It was easy to know them, fluttering about with extended, protecting wings when any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/the-mother-women-seemed-to-prevail-that-summer-at-grand-isle-it-was/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [Vain-glorious man, when fluttering wind does blow In his light wing's, is lifted up to sky; The scorn of-knighthood and true chivalry. To think,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-spenser/vain-glorious-man-when-fluttering-wind-does-blow-in-his-light-wing-s/) [Edmund Spenser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-spenser/) > [“Now hollow fires burn out to black, And lights are fluttering low: Square your shoulders, lift your pack And leave your friends and go.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/now-hollow-fires-burn-out-to-black-and-lights-are-fluttering-low/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [And how to paint your lovely hands, fluttering over the silks like two dark birds?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-borton-de-trevino/and-how-to-paint-your-lovely-hands-fluttering-over-the-silks-like-two/) [Elizabeth Borton de Trevino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-borton-de-trevino/) Browse all 99 Fluttering quotes ```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. 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. 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