How different each death is, and yet it leads us into the self-same country, that country which we inhabit so rarely, where we see the worthlessness of what we have long pursued and will so soon return to pursuing.
Iris MurdochOne of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats, and if some of these can be inexpensive and quickly procured so much the better.
Iris MurdochWords are the most subtle symbols which we possess and our human fabric depends on them.
Iris MurdochLiterature could be said to be a sort of disciplined technique for arousing certain emotions.
Iris MurdochWhen does one ever know a human being? Perhaps only after one has realized the impossibility of knowledge and renounced the desire for it and finally ceased to feel even the need of it. But then what one achieves is no longer knowledge, it is simply a kind of co-existence; and this too is one of the guises of love.
Iris Murdoch