Virginia Woolf’s famous quote, “If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people” bears an eerie similarity to William Shakespeare’s quote, “Above all else, to thine own self be true, and as the night follows the day, thou cannot then be false to any man”. Essentially, these quotes are both a suggestion and a warning. The suggestion is that, for one to be successful in life, there must be careful self-examination.
In effect, this introspection can be accomplished similar to looking in the mirror. In a mirror reflection the observer can finally carefully examine themselves with no pretense or avoidance. In direct likeness, the insightful observer can – and should – examine themselves for internal truths. For, as Woolf suggests, if you do not have the courage to seek and acknowledge the truths about yourself, it is impossible to truly accomplish the same goal in others. However, many people are critical of others, looking at the flaws of those around them in a desperate attempt to avoid their own personal flaws and fears. Yet, this is a shallow inspection of others, rife with assumptions and mistaken conclusions, usually based on little more than what is perceived at face value.
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"Virginia Woolf: Tell the Truth About Yourself".
Here, Woolf is warning that, without the true inspection of one’s own realistic strengths and weaknesses, any attempts to investigate the strengths and weaknesses of others will be surface-level examinations. Although many might find this practice acceptable, Woolf warns that no one can truly tell the truth about others if there is an inability to face the stark reality of personal flaws, which is an avoidable tragedy.
