Quote#Books & Reading
What a born melancholiac I am! The only way I keep afloat is by…
Quote byVirginia Woolf · 1882–1941
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: A Moment's Liberty (1990), Sunday 23 June, 1929.
English (original)
What a born melancholiac I am! The only way I keep afloat is by working. Directly I stop working I feel that I am sinking down, down. And as usual, I feel that if I sink further I shall reach the truth. That is the only mitigation; a kind of nobility. Solemnity. Work, reading, writing, are all disguising; and relations with other people. Yes, even having children wold be useless.
— Virginia Woolf
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