I. There was another ten-shilling note in my purse; I noticed it, because it is a fact that still takes my breath away—the power of my purse to breed ten-shilling notes automatically. I open it and there they are. Society gives me chicken and coffee, bed and lodging, in return for a certain number of pieces of paper which were left to me by an aunt, for no other reason, than that I share her name.

 

II. Instead of being serious and profound and humane, one might be—and the thought was far less seductive—merely lazy minded and conventional into the bargain.

 

III. Clearly the mind is always altering its focus, and bringing the world into different perspectives.

—VIRGINIA WOOLF, A Room of One’s Own (1929)