A middling talent makes for a more serene life. Iris Murdoch More Quotes by Iris Murdoch More Quotes From Iris Murdoch Education doesn’t make you happy. Nor does freedom. We don’t become happy just because we’re free – if we are. Or because we’ve been educated – if we have. But because education may be the means by which we realize we are happy. It opens our eyes, our ears, tells us where delights are lurking, convinces us that there is only one freedom of any importance whatsoever, that of the mind, and gives us the assurance – the confidence – to walk the path our mind, our educated mind, offers. Iris Murdoch convince-useyemean It is not enough that I succeed, everyone else must fail. Iris Murdoch succeedfailingenough Freedom may be a value in politics, but it is not a value in morals. Iris Murdoch valuesmoralmay The chief requirement of the good life, is to live without any image of oneself. Iris Murdoch good-liferequirementslife-is Perhaps when distant people on other planets pick up some wavelength of ours all they hear is a continuous scream. Iris Murdoch wavelengthliteraturepeople Every book is the wreck of a perfect idea. Iris Murdoch writingbookideas It is in the capacity to love, that is to SEE, that the liberation of the soul from fantasy consists. The freedom which is a proper human goal is the freedom from fantasy, that is the realism of compassion. What I have called fantasy, the proliferation of blinding self-centered aims and images, is itself a powerful system of energy, and most of what is often called 'will' or 'willing' belongs to this system. What counteracts the system is attention to reality inspired by, consisting of, love. Iris Murdoch powerfullovereality Most real relationships are involuntary. Iris Murdoch real-relationshipinvoluntaryreal Our destiny can be examined, but it cannot be justified or totally explained. We are simply here. Iris Murdoch justifieddestinyinspirational Art is the final cunning of the human soul which would rather do anything than face the gods. Iris Murdoch finalssoulart Love is the last and secret name of all the virtues. Iris Murdoch secretnameslove-is Words are the most subtle symbols which we possess and our human fabric depends on them. Iris Murdoch fabricsubtlesymbols I just enjoy translating, it's like opening one's mouth and hearing someone else's voice emerge. Iris Murdoch hearingvoicemouths I think being a woman is like being Irish. Everyone says you're important and nice, but you take second place all the same. Iris Murdoch womennicereality Yes, of course, there's something fishy about describing people's feelings. You try hard to be accurate, but as soon as you start to define such and such a feeling, language lets you down. It's really a machine for making falsehoods. When we really speak the truth, words are insufficient. Almost everything except things like "pass the gravy" is a lie of a sort. And that being the case, I shall shut up. Oh, and... pass the gravy. Iris Murdoch feelingslyingpeople Only lies and evil come from letting people off. Iris Murdoch responsibilitylyingpeople The bicycle is the most civilized conveyance known to man. Iris Murdoch riding-a-bicyclecyclingmen We shall be better prepared for the future if we see how terrible, how doomed the present is. Iris Murdoch fateliteraturetime All our failures are ultimately failures in love. Iris Murdoch failure All art deals with the absurd and aims at the simple. Good art speaks truth, indeed is truth, perhaps the only truth. Iris Murdoch speaksimpleart
