What a test that is: more than devotion, admiration, passion. If you long and long for someone’s company you love them.
Iris MurdochRead
Every human soul has seen, perhaps before their birth, pure forms such as justice, temperance, beauty and all the great moral qualities which we hold in honour. We are moved towards what is good by the faint memory of these forms, simple and calm and blessed, which we saw once in a pure, clear light, being pure ourselves.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the innate knowledge of moral ideals that every human soul possesses.
Iris Murdoch suggests that before birth, every human soul is acquainted with pure forms of moral qualities like justice and beauty. This pre-birth knowledge influences our attraction to goodness throughout our lives, as we strive to return to that state of purity and clarity we once experienced.
Themes
MoralPurityJusticeBeautyInnate Knowledge
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about moral philosophy, this quote emphasizes the innate understanding of goodness we possess.
More from Iris Murdoch
All quotes →The bicycle is the most civilized conveyance known to man. Other forms of transport grow daily more nightmarish. Only the bicycle remains pure in heart.
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Man's creative struggle, his search for wisdom and truth, is a love story.
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All art deals with the absurd and aims at the simple. Good art speaks truth, indeed is truth, perhaps the only truth.
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A bad review is even less important than whether it is raining in Patagonia.
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Perhaps when distant people on other planets pick up some wavelength of ours all they hear is a continuous scream.
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