What a test that is: more than devotion, admiration, passion. If you long and long for someoneβs 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 βThe bicycle is the most civilized conveyance known to man. Other forms of transport grow daily more nightmarish. Only the bicycle remains pure in heart.
Iris MurdochRead
Man's creative struggle, his search for wisdom and truth, is a love story.
Iris MurdochRead
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
Similar quotes
There's so many films from around the world, I emphasize, that are so beautifully photographed, but they don't get the recognition.
Roger DeakinsRead
The radio makes hideous sounds.
Bob DylanRead
Poetry is a fireplace in summer or a fan in winter.
Robert HassRead
I had just arrived in New York from California. I was nineteen years old and excited beyond belief. I was an art student and an acting student and behaved as most young actors did - meaning that there was no such thing as a good actor, 'cause you yourself hadn't shown up yet.
Robert RedfordRead
A good poet's made as well as born.
Ben JonsonRead
You have to learn a few things, which you do along the way, but basically, poetry is a matter of the ear. Iambic pentameters or what constitutes a stanza comes naturally - your ears will know.
Vikram SethRead