“All art is the struggle to be, in a particular sort of way, virtuous.”
The Black Prince (1973); 2003, p. 181.
Iris Murdoch: Trending quotes (page 3)
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Iris Murdoch:
122
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21
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“Being good is just a matter of temperament in the end.”
The Nice and the Good (1968), ch. 14, p. 127.
Murdoch attributed this opinion to her character Kate Gray. It was not her own.
Source: Sartre: Romantic Rationalist (1953), Ch. 10, p. 138
“There is no substitute for the comfort supplied by the utterly taken-for-granted relationship.”
A Severed Head (1961); 1976, p. 181.
Source: Sartre: Romantic Rationalist (1953), Ch. 10, p. 148 (the concluding sentence of the book)
“Only lies and evil come from letting people off.”
A Severed Head (1961); 1976, p. 61.
The Message to the Planet (1989) p. 532.
“Art is the final cunning of the human soul which would rather do anything than face the gods.”
"Art and Eros: A Dialogue about Art", Acastos: Two Platonic Dialogues (1986).
Iris Murdoch
book
The Bell
The Bell (1958) p. 91
“I see myself as Rhoda, not Mary Tyler Moore.”
Not Iris Murdoch, but the actress and comedian Rosie O'Donnell. See George Mair Rosie O'Donnell: Her True Story (1997) p. 81.
Misattributed
“I daresay anything can be made holy by being sincerely worshipped.”
The Message to the Planet (1989) p. 322.
“The role of philosophy might be said to be to extend and deepen the self-awareness of mankind.”
Source: Sartre: Romantic Rationalist (1953), Ch. 9, p. 137
“All metaphysical theories are inconclusively vulnerable to positivist attack.”
Source: Sartre: Romantic Rationalist (1953), Ch. 9, p. 127
“Perhaps misguided moral passion is better than confused indifference.”
The Book and the Brotherhood (1987) p. 248.
“A bad review is even less important than whether it is raining in Patagonia.”
Quoted in The Times (6 July 1989).
“The only satisfied rationalists today are blinkered scientists or Marxists.”
Source: Sartre: Romantic Rationalist (1953), Ch. 7, p. 113
“The cry of equality pulls everyone down.”
Quoted in The Observer September 13, 1987.
Source: Sartre: Romantic Rationalist (1953), Ch. 8, p. 119
“Bereavement is a darkness impenetrable to the imagination of the unbereaved.”
The Sacred and Profane Love Machine (1974) p. 37.
The Sacred and Profane Love Machine (1974), p. 66.