“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.”
“All art is a struggle to be, in a particular sort of way, virtuous.”
Iris Murdoch
“Love is the difficult realization that something other than oneself is real.”
Iris Murdoch
“We can only learn to love by loving.”
Iris Murdoch
“Writing is like getting married. One should never commit oneself until one is amazed at one's luck.”
Iris Murdoch
“Art is the final cunning of the human soul which would rather do anything than face the gods.”
Iris Murdoch