There is no substitute for the comfort supplied by the utterly taken-for-granted relationship.
IRIS MURDOCHThere is no substitute for the comfort supplied by the utterly taken-for-granted relationship.
IRIS MURDOCHHow huge it is, how empty, this great space for which I have been longing all my life. Still no letters.
IRIS MURDOCHWhat I needed with all my starved and silent soul was just that particular way of shouting back at the world.
IRIS MURDOCHThis sort of quiet gazing, which was like a feeding of the heart.
IRIS MURDOCHLove doesn’t think like that. All right, it’s blind as a bat- Bats have radar. Yours doesnt seem to be working.
IRIS MURDOCHI’ve felt as if I didn’t exist, as if I were invisible, miles away from the world, miles away. You can’t imagine how much alone I’ve been all my life.
IRIS MURDOCHI felt a deep grief that crouched and stayed still as if it was afraid to move.
IRIS MURDOCHHer eyes, which refused to meet mine, had the defensive coldness of those who are determined to lose hope.
IRIS MURDOCHI think being a woman is like being Irish, Everyone says you’re important and nice, but you take second place all the time.
IRIS MURDOCHI’ve been so unhappy for years, so unhappy, I don’t understand how a human being can be so unhappy all the time and still be alive.
IRIS MURDOCHThere is no beyond, there is only here, the infinitely small, infinitely great and utterly demanding present.
IRIS MURDOCHOnly the very greatest art invigorates without consoling.
IRIS MURDOCHAn experience is richest not talked of.
IRIS MURDOCHThe absolute yearning of one human body for another particular body and its indifference to substitutes is one of life’s major mysteries.
IRIS MURDOCHWhite magic is black magic. A less than perfect meddling in the spiritual world can breed monsters for other people, and demons used for good can hang around and make mischief afterwards.
IRIS MURDOCHWe defend ourselves with descriptions and tame the world by generalizing.
IRIS MURDOCH