--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Venerable are letters, infinitely brave…" description: "\"“Venerable are letters, infinitely brave, forlorn, and lost. Life would split asunder without them. \"Come to tea, come to dinner, what's the truth of t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a2/virginia-woolf-49_drinking-tea_venerable-are-letters-infinitely-brave-f_2663131.jpg" --- # Venerable are letters, infinitely brave, forlorn, and… ![“Venerable are letters, infinitely brave, forlorn, and lost. Life would split asunder without them. "Come to tea, come to dinner, what's the truth of the story? have you heard the news? life in the capital is gay; the Russian dancers…" These are our stays and props. These lace our days together and…” quote by Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a2/virginia-woolf-49_drinking-tea_venerable-are-letters-infinitely-brave-f_2663131.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a2/virginia-woolf-49_drinking-tea_venerable-are-letters-infinitely-brave-f_2663131.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a2/virginia-woolf-49_drinking-tea_venerable-are-letters-infinitely-brave-f_2663131.jpg) > ““Venerable are letters, infinitely brave, forlorn, and lost. Life would split asunder without them. "Come to tea, come to dinner, what's the truth of the story? have you heard the news? life in the capital is gay; the Russian dancers…" These are our stays and props. These lace our days together and make of life a perfect globe. And yet, and yet... when we go to dinner, when pressing finger-tips we hope to meet somewhere soon, a doubt insinuates itself; is this the way to spend our days? the rare, limited, so soon dealt out to us - drinking tea? dining out? And the notes accumulate. And the telephones ring. And everywhere we go wires and tubes surround us to carry the voices that try to penetrate before the last card is dealt. "Try to penetrate" for as we lift the cup, shake the hand, express the hope, something whispers, Is this all? Can I never know, share, be certain? Am I doomed all my days to write letters, send voices, which fall upon the tea-table, fade upon the passage, making appointments, while life dwindles, to come and dine? Yet letters are venerable; and the telephone valiant, for the journey is a lonely one, and if bound together by notes and telephones we went in company, perhaps- who know? - we might talk by the way.”” [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. The passage reflects on how letters and telephone calls connect people, yet also highlight loneliness and the fleeting nature of communication in modern life. **In simple terms:** Letters and calls link us but also expose isolation. Key Takeaway Cherish genuine connection beyond fleeting messages. Themes communication loneliness modernity relationships impermanence Mood reflective melancholic contemplative Type literary philosophical emotional When to use this quote - dinner parties - tea gatherings - writing letters - telephone conversations - urban life Key Concepts social bonds technology existential reflection Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance digital contact with deep personal interaction? - Can fleeting can replace the intimacy of letters? A Different Perspective The metaphor may romanticize old communication, overlooking digital immediacy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dine Letters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dine-letters-2444466/) [Drinking tea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drinking-tea/) [Letters Venerable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/letters-venerable-2021842/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Venerable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/venerable-511169/) [Venerable Letters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/venerable-letters-2444465/) [Write Letters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-letters/) ## Related quotes > [Venerable are letters, infinitely brave, forlorn, and lost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/venerable-are-letters-infinitely-brave-forlorn-and-lost/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [Venerable are letters, infinitely brave, forlorn, and lost. Life would split asunder without them. 'Come to tea, come to dinner, what's the truth of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/venerable-are-letters-infinitely-brave-forlorn-and-lost-life-would/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [letters are venerable; and the telephone valiant, for the journey is a lonely one, and if bound together by notes and telephones we went…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/letters-are-venerable-and-the-telephone-valiant-for-the-journey-is-a/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“Let us consider letters - how they come at breakfast, and at night, with their yellow stamps and their green stamps, immortalized by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/let-us-consider-letters-how-they-come-at-breakfast-and-at-night-with/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [Nothing is more noble, nothing more venerable than fidelity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/nothing-is-more-noble-nothing-more-venerable-than-fidelity/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [Is the babe young? When I behold it, it seems more venerable than the oldest man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/is-the-babe-young-when-i-behold-it-it-seems-more-venerable-than-the/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [A large, branching, aged oak is perhaps the most venerable of all inanimate objects.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shenstone/a-large-branching-aged-oak-is-perhaps-the-most-venerable-of-all/) [William Shenstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shenstone/) > [Years place at last a venerable crown upon a head.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/years-place-at-last-a-venerable-crown-upon-a-head/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [A brotherhood of venerable trees.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/a-brotherhood-of-venerable-trees/) [William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/) > [ “Were we \[Women\] to express our conceptions of God, it wou'd never enter into the head of any one of us to describe him… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lady-sophia-fermor/were-we-women-to-express-our-conceptions-of-god-it-wou-d-never-enter/) [Lady Sophia Fermor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lady-sophia-fermor/) > [Venerable men! you have come down to us from a former generation. Heaven has bounteously lengthened out your lives, that you might behold this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-webster/venerable-men-you-have-come-down-to-us-from-a-former-generation/) [Daniel Webster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-webster/) > [A sense of absurdity interferes with my efforts to appear venerable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/a-sense-of-absurdity-interferes-with-my-efforts-to-appear-venerable/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [“Honor is venerable to us because it is no ephemeris. It is always ancient virtue. We worship it today because it is not of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/honor-is-venerable-to-us-because-it-is-no-ephemeris-it-is-always/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“Virtue is venerable as nothing else in this world is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/virtue-is-venerable-as-nothing-else-in-this-world-is/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“Humans are venerable because they are capable of getting hurt.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/becca-fitzpatrick/humans-are-venerable-because-they-are-capable-of-getting-hurt/) [Becca Fitzpatrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/becca-fitzpatrick/) ## 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'? 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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. 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 Drinking tea quotes > [Of course Messi could handle a cold Tuesday night in Stoke. He'd be drinking tea and relaxing beforehand. Me? I'd probably be the same.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neymar/of-course-messi-could-handle-a-cold-tuesday-night-in-stoke-he-d-be/) [Neymar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neymar/) > [“Drinking tea with a pinch of imagination!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/50-ways-to-drink-tea/drinking-tea-with-a-pinch-of-imagination/) [50 Ways to Drink Tea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/50-ways-to-drink-tea/) > [Perhaps it is while drinking tea that I most of all enjoy the sense of leisure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-gissing/perhaps-it-is-while-drinking-tea-that-i-most-of-all-enjoy-the-sense/) [George Gissing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-gissing/) > [“With a few exceptions, conservative Christian political activists are as ineffective as White Russian exiles, drinking tea from samovars in their Paris drawing rooms,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-dreher/with-a-few-exceptions-conservative-christian-political-activists-are/) [Rod Dreher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-dreher/) > [“Closing my eyes, I find green mountains and pure water within my own heart. 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Life would split asunder without them. \"Come to tea, come to dinner, what's the truth of the story? have you heard the news? life in the capital is gay; the Russian dancers…\" These are our stays and props. These lace our days together and make of life a perfect globe. And yet, and yet... when we go to dinner, when pressing finger-tips we hope to meet somewhere soon, a doubt insinuates itself; is this the way to spend our days? the rare, limited, so soon dealt out to us - drinking tea? dining out? And the notes accumulate. And the telephones ring. And everywhere we go wires and tubes surround us to carry the voices that try to penetrate before the last card is dealt. \"Try to penetrate\" for as we lift the cup, shake the hand, express the hope, something whispers, Is this all? Can I never know, share, be certain? Am I doomed all my days to write letters, send voices, which fall upon the tea-table, fade upon the passage, making appointments, while life dwindles, to come and dine? 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