Quotes from book
The Bell

Name: The Bell
Author: Iris Murdoch

The Bell is a novel by Iris Murdoch. Published in 1958, it was her fourth novel. It is set in a lay religious community situated next to an enclosed order of Benedictine nuns in Gloucestershire.

“We can only learn to love by loving.”

Iris Murdoch book The Bell

The Bell (1958), ch. 19; 2001, p. 219.

“Those who hope, by retiring from the world, to earn a holiday from human frailty, in themselves and others, are usually disappointed.”

Iris Murdoch book The Bell

Source: The Bell

“youth is a marvelous garment”

Iris Murdoch book The Bell

Source: The Bell

“Our actions are like ships which we may watch set out to sea, and not know when or with what cargo they will return to port.”

Iris Murdoch book The Bell

Source: The Bell

“The chief requirement of the good life… is to live without any image of oneself.”

Iris Murdoch book The Bell

The Bell (1958), ch. 9; 2001, p. 119.

“He felt neither guilt nor distress at the pleasure with which he was now filled by the proximity of this young creature, and when he discovered in himself even physical symptoms of his inclination he did not take fright, but continued cheerfully and serenely to see Nick whenever the ordinary run of his duties suggested it, congratulating himself upon the newly achieved solidity and rational calm of his spiritual life.”

Iris Murdoch book The Bell

The Bell (1958) p. 91

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