We shall be better prepared for the future if we see how terrible, how doomed the present is.

Quote by Iris Murdoch

Topics: Iris Murdoch Quotes

The absolute yearning of one human body for another particular body and its indifference to...

The absolute yearning of one human body for another particular body and its indifference to...

A bad review is even less important than whether it is raining in Patagonia.

A bad review is even less important than whether it is raining in Patagonia.

Only lies and evil come from letting people off.

Only lies and evil come from letting people off.

Between saying and doing, many a pair of shoes is worn out.

Between saying and doing, many a pair of shoes is worn out.

Perhaps misguided moral passion is better than confused indifference.

Perhaps misguided moral passion is better than confused indifference.

Human affairs are not serious, but they have to be taken seriously.

Human affairs are not serious, but they have to be taken seriously.

The cry of equality pulls everyone down.

The cry of equality pulls everyone down.

Art is the final cunning of the human soul which would rather do anything than...

Art is the final cunning of the human soul which would rather do anything than...

In philosophy if you aren't moving at a snail's pace you aren't moving at all.

In philosophy if you aren't moving at a snail's pace you aren't moving at all.

There is no substitute for the comfort supplied by the utterly taken-for-granted relationship.

There is no substitute for the comfort supplied by the utterly taken-for-granted relationship.

But fantasy kills imagination, pornography is death to art.

But fantasy kills imagination, pornography is death to art.

One doesn't have to get anywhere in a marriage. It's not a public conveyance.

One doesn't have to get anywhere in a marriage. It's not a public conveyance.

Happiness is a matter of one's most ordinary and everyday mode of consciousness being busy...

Happiness is a matter of one's most ordinary and everyday mode of consciousness being busy...

We can only learn to love by loving.

We can only learn to love by loving.

Jealousy is the most dreadfully involuntary of all sins

Jealousy is the most dreadfully involuntary of all sins

The priesthood is a marriage. People often start by falling in love, and they go...

The priesthood is a marriage. People often start by falling in love, and they go...

I see myself as Rhoda, not Mary Tyler Moore.

I see myself as Rhoda, not Mary Tyler Moore.

Literature could be said to be a sort of disciplined technique for arousing certain emotions.

Literature could be said to be a sort of disciplined technique for arousing certain emotions.

People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the...

People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the...

All art is a struggle to be, in a particular sort of way, virtuous.

All art is a struggle to be, in a particular sort of way, virtuous.