What a test that is: more than devotion, admiration, passion. If you long and long for someone’s company you love them.
Iris MurdochRead
Only the very greatest art invigorates without consoling.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Great art stimulates the mind and spirit but does not provide comfort or reassurance.
Iris Murdoch suggests that the highest form of artistic expression possesses the ability to provoke thought and inspire action, rather than merely offering solace or emotional comfort. This implies that true artistic greatness lies in its power to challenge viewers, forcing them to confront deeper realities rather than escaping into reassuring fantasies.
Themes
ArtInspirationChallengeGreatnessPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about modern art at a gallery opening, you could use this quote to emphasize the provocative nature of the artwork displayed.
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.
Iris MurdochRead
A bad review is even less important than whether it is raining in Patagonia.
Iris MurdochRead
Perhaps when distant people on other planets pick up some wavelength of ours all they hear is a continuous scream.
Iris MurdochRead
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