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About this quote

What does it mean?
Adopting rigid identities like leader or follower makes you small and petty, diminishing the value of your work.
In plain terms
If you take on labels like leader or conservative, you become petty and your work matters less to others.
What can you take from it?
Avoid rigid labels to keep your work valuable and your spirit free.

Where it applies

  • workplace dynamics
  • political debates
  • team collaboration

Putting it to work

  • focus on work
  • avoid labels
  • stay humble

Questions to consider

  • How do labels limit your potential?
  • What makes work truly valuable?

Another view

Sometimes clear roles are necessary for organization and safety.

More from Virginia Woolf

  1. The artist after all is a solitary being.

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  2. Lines slip easily down the accustomed grooves. The old designs are copied so glibly that we are half inclined to think them original, save for that very glibne…

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  3. The outsider will say, 'in fact, as a woman, I have no country. As a woman I want no country. As a woman my country is the whole world.' And if, when reason ha…

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