“As long as she thinks of a man, nobody objects to a woman thinking.”
Source: Orlando: A Biography (1928), Ch. 6
Quotes from book
Orlando: A Biography
Orlando: A Biography is a novel by Virginia Woolf, first published on 11 October 1928. A high-spirited romp inspired by the tumultuous family history of Woolf's lover and close friend the aristocratic poet and novelist Vita Sackville-West, it is arguably one of Woolf's most popular novels: a history of English literature in satiric form. The book describes the adventures of a poet who changes sex from man to woman and lives for centuries, meeting the key figures of English literary history. Considered a feminist classic, the book has been written about extensively by scholars of women's writing and gender and transgender studies.
Source: Orlando: A Biography (1928), Ch. 2
Source: Orlando: A Biography (1928), Ch. 4
Source: Orlando: A Biography (1928), Ch. 1, first lines
“Society is the most powerful conception in the world and society has no existence whatsoever.”
Source: Orlando: A Biography (1928), Ch. 4
Source: Orlando: A Biography (1928), Ch. 4
Source: Orlando: A Biography (1928), Ch. 2
Source: Orlando: A Biography (1928), Ch. 4
“One can only believe entirely, perhaps, in what one cannot see.”
Ch. 4
Source: Something, perhaps, we must believe in, and as Orlando, we have said, had no belief in the usual divinities she bestowed her credulity upon great men — yet with a distinction. Admirals, soldiers, statesmen, moved her not at all. But the very thought of a great writer stirred her to such a pitch of belief that she almost believed him to be invisible. Her instinct was a sound one. One can only believe entirely, perhaps, in what one cannot see.
