What a test that is: more than devotion, admiration, passion. If you long and long for someoneβs company you love them.
Iris MurdochRead
No love is entirely without worth, even when the frivolous calls to the frivolous and the base to the base.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Every form of love has its value, even if it seems shallow or undeserving.
Iris Murdoch's quote emphasizes that all expressions of love, regardless of their depth or seriousness, hold some intrinsic value. She suggests that even love that appears trivial or is formed between individuals of low character still contributes to the broader tapestry of human relationships and emotional experiences.
Themes
LoveWorthRelationshipsValueEmotion
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech on the importance of supporting all forms of love, one might reference this quote to highlight love's intrinsic value.
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.
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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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Similar quotes
In Hawaii, we greet friends, loved ones or strangers with Aloha, which means love. Aloha is the key word to the universal spirit of real hospitality, which makes Hawaii renowned as the world's center of understanding and fellowship. Try meeting or leaving people with Aloha. You'll be surprised by their reaction. I believe it and it is my creed. Aloha to you.
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He painted me when I was young because he was in love with me, but now that he has loved me he doesn't paint me anymore.
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After all, damn it, what does being in love mean if you can't trust a person.
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Love demands expression. It will not stay still, stay silent, be good, be modest, be seen and not heard, no. It will break out in tongues of praise, the high note that smashes the glass and spills the liquid.
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Writers are great lovers. They fall in love with other writers. That's how they learn to write. They take on a writer, read everything by him or her, read it over again until they understand how the writer moves, pauses, and sees. That's what being a lover is: stepping out of yourself, stepping into someone else's skin.
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From moment then to moment their desire Gained strength, and wisdom fled before love's fire; Passion engulfed them, and these lovers lay Entwined together till the break of day.
Abolqasem FerdowsiRead