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Here on this ring of grass we have sat together, bound by the tremendous power of some inner compulsion. The trees wave, the clouds pass. The time approaches when these soliloquies shall be shared. We shall not always give out a sound like a beaten gong as one sensation strikes and then another. Children, our lives have been gongs striking; clamour and boasting; cries of despair; blows on the nape of the neck in gardens.

Virginia Woolf#27

TimeConnectionCommunicationConsciousnessExpressionInner lifeNature

About this quote

What does it mean?
Woolf describes a shared human experience rooted in an inner drive, suggesting that individual thoughts will soon become collective. She contrasts the noise of past life with a hoped-for shared understanding.
In plain terms
We are connected by deep internal forces and will soon share our private thoughts instead of just making noise.
What can you take from it?
Move from isolated noise to shared understanding with others.

Where it applies

  • group reflection
  • personal growth
  • shared creative work

Putting it to work

  • journaling with others
  • group discussion
  • artistic collaboration

Questions to consider

  • What inner compulsion drives you?
  • How do you share your soliloquies?

Another view

The quote assumes a future shared understanding that may not be possible for all people.

More from Virginia Woolf

  1. My belief is that if we live another century or so - I am talking of the common life which is the real life and not of the little separate lives which we live …

    Permalink to quote #26
  2. Things have dropped from me. I have outlived certain desires; I have lost friends, some by death... others through sheer inability to cross the street.

    Permalink to quote #28
  3. I told you in the course of this paper that Shakespeare had a sister; but do not look for her in Sir Sidney Lee's life of the poet. She died young - alas, she …

    Permalink to quote #25

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