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Quote by Iris Murdoch

Work

The Green Knight

This classic tale of chivalry and adventure is set in the medieval period and explores themes of honor, bravery, and the supernatural. The protagonist, a knight, faces a daunting challenge from the enigmatic Green Knight, leading to a series of events that test his character and resolve. more

Author

Iris Murdoch
Iris Murdoch

Iris Murdoch was an Irish-Canadian philosopher and author, born on July 15, 1919, in Dublin, Ireland, and passed away on February 8, 1999. She is celebrated for her philosophical novels that intertwine moral and ethical dilemmas with complex narratives. Murdoch's work has left a lasting impact on the literary world, particularly in the latter half of the 20th century. more

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“But when I look back at myself at age twenty what I remember most is being alone and lonely. I had no girlfriend to warm my body or my soul, no friends I could open up to. No clue what I should do every day, no vision for the future. For the most part, I remained hidden away, deep within myself. Sometimes I’d go a week without talking to anybody. That kind of life continued for a year. A long, long year. Whether this period was a cold winter that left valuable growth rings inside me, I can’t really say. At the time I felt as if every night I, too, were gazing out a porthole at a moon made of ice. A transparent, eight-inch-thick, frozen moon. But I watched that moon alone, unable to share its cold beauty with anyone.”

“Seeking for perfection is like seeking for mental health without a definition of what it is. But if psychology and psychiatry are as lost as the people they consistently evaluate, and people are as imperfect as the imperfection they see in others, then I have to conclude that it is as wise to accept judgment as it is to judge first the ones who judge us. But it is also as wise as it is foolish to do so; for it is like seeking for a definition that can’t entirely define us. Because if one answer can explain a thousand questions, a billion questions would never amount to the importance of an answer, which the simpler it is, the more questions it answers. And in that sense, I must say, we are imperfectly perfect.”