Virginia Woolf quote about desire from To the Lighthouse - To want and not to have, sent all up her body a hardness, a hollowness, a strain. And then to want and not to have—to want and want—how that wrung the heart, and wrung it again and again!
pick facebookpinterest picture source

To want and not to have, sent all up her body a hardness, a hollowness, a strain. And then to want and not to have—to want and want—how that wrung the heart, and wrung it again and again!
 Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse (1927). copy citation

edit
Author Virginia Woolf
Source To the Lighthouse
Topic desire hardness longing
Date 1927
Language English
Reference
Note
Weblink http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks01/0100101.txt

Context

“(She was looking at the drawing-room steps; they looked extraordinarily empty.) It was one's body feeling, not one's mind. The physical sensations that went with the bare look of the steps had become suddenly extremely unpleasant. To want and not to have, sent all up her body a hardness, a hollowness, a strain. And then to want and not to have—to want and want—how that wrung the heart, and wrung it again and again! Oh, Mrs. Ramsay! she called out silently, to that essence which sat by the boat, that abstract one made of her, that woman in grey, as if to abuse her for having gone, and then having gone, come back again.” source

Meaning and analysis

write a note
report