--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: she heard some voice saying she couldn't…" description: "\"“she heard some voice saying she couldn't paint, saying she couldn't create, as if she were caught up in one of those habitual currents in which after ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53f/virginia-woolf-49_creativity_she-heard-some-voice-saying-she-couldn-t_823622.jpg" --- # she heard some voice saying she couldn't paint, saying she… ![“she heard some voice saying she couldn't paint, saying she couldn't create, as if she were caught up in one of those habitual currents in which after a certain time experience forms in the mind, so that one repeats words without being aware any longer who originally spoke them.” quote by Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53f/virginia-woolf-49_creativity_she-heard-some-voice-saying-she-couldn-t_823622.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53f/virginia-woolf-49_creativity_she-heard-some-voice-saying-she-couldn-t_823622.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53f/virginia-woolf-49_creativity_she-heard-some-voice-saying-she-couldn-t_823622.jpg) > ““she heard some voice saying she couldn't paint, saying she couldn't create, as if she were caught up in one of those habitual currents in which after a certain time experience forms in the mind, so that one repeats words without being aware any longer who originally spoke them.”” [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. Persistent inner voices can echo past influences, causing unoriginal repetition without awareness. **In simple terms:** Old ideas repeat unnoticed. Key Takeaway Recognize and break habitual thought patterns. Themes identity creativity habit Mood introspective thoughtful Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - writing sessions - artistic block - self-reflection - creative workshops Key Concepts psychology self-awareness Questions to Reflect On - What habits shape your creative voice? - How can you trace original inspiration? A Different Perspective Awareness may be hard to achieve. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Couldn Create](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/couldn-create-494969/) [Couldn Paint](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/couldn-paint-429512/) [Creativity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creativity/) [Heard Voice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heard-voice/) [Mind Repeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind-repeats-494967/) [Originally Spoke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/originally-spoke-494968/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“Why then did she do it? She looked at the canvas, lightly scored with running lines. It would be hung in the servants' bedrooms.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/why-then-did-she-do-it-she-looked-at-the-canvas-lightly-scored-with/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [I went through a bad period where I was just not writing; I couldn't create anything. I was out of ideas. But when I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-holdsworth/i-went-through-a-bad-period-where-i-was-just-not-writing-i-couldn-t/) [Allan Holdsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-holdsworth/) > [No one ever said that I couldn't create my own projects, but no one actually told me that I could be an executive producer,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marsai-martin/no-one-ever-said-that-i-couldn-t-create-my-own-projects-but-no-one/) [Marsai Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marsai-martin/) > [“There was no one with whom to share his world, and there seemed to be nothing he could do about it. In business he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quent-cordair/there-was-no-one-with-whom-to-share-his-world-and-there-seemed-to-be/) [Quent Cordair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quent-cordair/) > [If you were to say to me that I couldn't paint, I would write. If I couldn't write, I would be a set designer.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-slick/if-you-were-to-say-to-me-that-i-couldn-t-paint-i-would-write-if-i/) [Grace Slick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-slick/) > [No, I didn't become disenchanted. I just couldn't paint like them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-ferlinghetti/no-i-didn-t-become-disenchanted-i-just-couldn-t-paint-like-them/) [Lawrence Ferlinghetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-ferlinghetti/) > [People were very affected by the war. But it didn't mean you stopped painting unless you were called into the Army; then you just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-krasner/people-were-very-affected-by-the-war-but-it-didn-t-mean-you-stopped/) [Lee Krasner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-krasner/) > [I used to want to be a writer or a painter, although I couldn't paint very well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jisoo/i-used-to-want-to-be-a-writer-or-a-painter-although-i-couldn-t-paint/) [Jisoo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jisoo/) > [My father kind of had hopes that I was going to become an artist like him - the typical thing. Of course I could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-russell/my-father-kind-of-had-hopes-that-i-was-going-to-become-an-artist-like/) [David Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-russell/) > [“ Pain. You overwhelm me," he said quietly. "And every time I see you or think of you, I can't grab a brush fast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joey-w-hill/pain-you-overwhelm-me-he-said-quietly-and-every-time-i-see-you-or/) [Joey W. Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joey-w-hill/) > [If there were only one truth, you couldn't paint a hundred canvases on the same theme.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/if-there-were-only-one-truth-you-couldn-t-paint-a-hundred-canvases-on/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [“Did Ida never look for him?" Dieter asks. "She didn't believe in spirits." "And what became of Henry?" "Oh. From time to time you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-kiesbye/did-ida-never-look-for-him-dieter-asks-she-didn-t-believe-in-spirits/) [Stefan Kiesbye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-kiesbye/) > [Donald Trump heard a voice out in America that no one else heard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ryan/donald-trump-heard-a-voice-out-in-america-that-no-one-else-heard/) [Paul Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ryan/) > [I have to say that getting to tackle Maria in 'The Sound of Music' at Carnegie Hall was surreal. When I heard my voice,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-osnes/i-have-to-say-that-getting-to-tackle-maria-in-the-sound-of-music-at/) [Laura Osnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-osnes/) > [“She listened for the pain in my words, not to the narrative itself. 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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'? 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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. 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You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“The Soviet “creative intelligentsia” - that is, people accustomed to thinking one thing, saying another and doing a third - is as a whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrei-amalrik/the-soviet-creative-intelligentsia-that-is-people-accustomed-to/) [Andrei Amalrik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrei-amalrik/) > [It’s so important to create in your own voice, to hold onto what makes you unique, and have faith in your vision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lasseter/it-s-so-important-to-create-in-your-own-voice-to-hold-onto-what-makes/) [John Lasseter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lasseter/) > [A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/a-rock-pile-ceases-to-be-a-rock-pile-the-moment-a-single-man/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [You don't get lucky. You create lucky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-sharma/you-don-t-get-lucky-you-create-lucky/) [Robin Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-sharma/) > [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [“You are the end of beauty and creativity one must have created so far.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-f-moonzajer/you-are-the-end-of-beauty-and-creativity-one-must-have-created-so-far/) [M.F. Moonzajer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-f-moonzajer/) > [Jonah Lehrer is one of the most talented explainers of science that we’ve got. What a pleasure it is to follow his investigation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/jonah-lehrer-is-one-of-the-most-talented-explainers-of-science-that/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [If you've got creativity, imagination, and intelligence, and you want to be hypnotised, then there's no reason you shouldn't be able to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-barry/if-you-ve-got-creativity-imagination-and-intelligence-and-you-want-to/) [Keith Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-barry/) > [“I believe in magic. As a writer, I create them on blank paper.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonnia-kemmer/i-believe-in-magic-as-a-writer-i-create-them-on-blank-paper/) [Sonnia Kemmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonnia-kemmer/) > [Creativity is like chasing chickens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christoph-niemann/creativity-is-like-chasing-chickens/) [Christoph Niemann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christoph-niemann/) > [It is proposed that a form of free dialogue may well be one of the most effective ways of investigating the crisis which faces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bohm/it-is-proposed-that-a-form-of-free-dialogue-may-well-be-one-of-the/) [David Bohm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bohm/) > [You always hear actors say, 'Theater is my first love,' and it is. 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Their creativity and productivity will increase.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/create-an-environment-for-people-to-fail-to-learn-and-to-grow-their/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 13,625 Creativity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creativity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“she heard some voice saying she couldn't paint, saying she couldn't create, as if she were caught up in one of those habitual currents in which after a certain time experience forms in the mind, so that one repeats words without being aware any longer who originally spoke them.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Virginia Woolf" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/she-heard-some-voice-saying-she-couldn-t-paint-saying-she-couldn-t/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Creativity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/she-heard-some-voice-saying-she-couldn-t-paint-saying-she-couldn-t/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53f/virginia-woolf-49_creativity_she-heard-some-voice-saying-she-couldn-t_823622.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53f/virginia-woolf-49_creativity_she-heard-some-voice-saying-she-couldn-t_823622.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53f/virginia-woolf-49_creativity_she-heard-some-voice-saying-she-couldn-t_823622.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“she heard some voice saying she couldn't paint, saying she couldn't create, as if she were caught up in one…” — 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": "“she heard some voice saying she...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/she-heard-some-voice-saying-she-couldn-t-paint-saying-she-couldn-t/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/she-heard-some-voice-saying-she-couldn-t-paint-saying-she-couldn-t/#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 } } ] } ```