The notion that one will not survive a particular catastrophe is, in general terms, a comfort since it is equivalent to abolishing the catastrophe.
Meaning of the quote
When something really bad happens, it can sometimes feel comforting to think that we won't survive it. This is because if we don't survive, the catastrophe or terrible event is basically gone or "abolished." Thinking this way can provide a sense of relief, even though it may not be the healthiest perspective.
About Iris Murdoch
Iris Murdoch was an acclaimed Irish and British novelist and philosopher known for her insightful works on morality, relationships, and the human psyche. She received numerous prestigious awards, including the Booker Prize, and was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature.
More quotes from Iris Murdoch
We shall be better prepared for the future if we see how terrible, how doomed the present is.
Irish-born British writer and philosopher (1919-1999)
Between saying and doing, many a pair of shoes is worn out.
Irish-born British writer and philosopher (1919-1999)
Perhaps when distant people on other planets pick up some wavelength of ours all they hear is a continuous scream.
Irish-born British writer and philosopher (1919-1999)
Happiness is a matter of one’s most ordinary and everyday mode of consciousness being busy and lively and unconcerned with self.
Irish-born British writer and philosopher (1919-1999)
No love is entirely without worth, even when the frivolous calls to the frivolous and the base to the base.
Irish-born British writer and philosopher (1919-1999)
But fantasy kills imagination, pornography is death to art.
Irish-born British writer and philosopher (1919-1999)
The absolute yearning of one human body for another particular body and its indifference to substitutes is one of life’s major mysteries.
Irish-born British writer and philosopher (1919-1999)
Love is the difficult realization that something other than oneself is real.
Irish-born British writer and philosopher (1919-1999)
In almost every marriage there is a selfish and an unselfish partner. A pattern is set up and soon becomes inflexible, of one person always making the demands and one person always giving way.
Irish-born British writer and philosopher (1919-1999)
Art is the final cunning of the human soul which would rather do anything than face the gods.
Irish-born British writer and philosopher (1919-1999)
Anything that consoles is fake.
Irish-born British writer and philosopher (1919-1999)
All art is a struggle to be, in a particular sort of way, virtuous.
Irish-born British writer and philosopher (1919-1999)
Human affairs are not serious, but they have to be taken seriously.
Irish-born British writer and philosopher (1919-1999)
Every man needs two women: a quiet home-maker, and a thrilling nymph.
Irish-born British writer and philosopher (1919-1999)
We live in a fantasy world, a world of illusion. The great task in life is to find reality.
Irish-born British writer and philosopher (1919-1999)
One doesn’t have to get anywhere in a marriage. It’s not a public conveyance.
Irish-born British writer and philosopher (1919-1999)
Moralistic is not moral. And as for truth – well, it’s like brown – it’s not in the spectrum. Truth is so generic.
Irish-born British writer and philosopher (1919-1999)
We can only learn to love by loving.
Irish-born British writer and philosopher (1919-1999)
I think being a woman is like being Irish. Everyone says you’re important and nice, but you take second place all the same.
Irish-born British writer and philosopher (1919-1999)
He was a sociologist; he had got into an intellectual muddle early on in life and never managed to get out.
Irish-born British writer and philosopher (1919-1999)
People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the whole time to have such things about us.
Irish-born British writer and philosopher (1919-1999)
There is no substitute for the comfort supplied by the utterly taken-for-granted relationship.
Irish-born British writer and philosopher (1919-1999)
I see myself as Rhoda, not Mary Tyler Moore.
Irish-born British writer and philosopher (1919-1999)
The notion that one will not survive a particular catastrophe is, in general terms, a comfort since it is equivalent to abolishing the catastrophe.
Irish-born British writer and philosopher (1919-1999)
Being good is just a matter of temperament in the end.
Irish-born British writer and philosopher (1919-1999)
Falling out of love is very enlightening. For a short while you see the world with new eyes.
Irish-born British writer and philosopher (1919-1999)
Philosophy! Empty thinking by ignorant conceited men who think they can digest without eating!
Irish-born British writer and philosopher (1919-1999)
Only lies and evil come from letting people off.
Irish-born British writer and philosopher (1919-1999)
Perhaps misguided moral passion is better than confused indifference.
Irish-born British writer and philosopher (1919-1999)
Writing is like getting married. One should never commit oneself until one is amazed at one’s luck.
Irish-born British writer and philosopher (1919-1999)
Falling out of love is chiefly a matter of forgetting how charming someone is.
Irish-born British writer and philosopher (1919-1999)
I daresay anything can be made holy by being sincerely worshipped.
Irish-born British writer and philosopher (1919-1999)
The cry of equality pulls everyone down.
Irish-born British writer and philosopher (1919-1999)
A bad review is even less important than whether it is raining in Patagonia.
Irish-born British writer and philosopher (1919-1999)
Literature could be said to be a sort of disciplined technique for arousing certain emotions.
Irish-born British writer and philosopher (1919-1999)
In philosophy if you aren’t moving at a snail’s pace you aren’t moving at all.
Irish-born British writer and philosopher (1919-1999)
The priesthood is a marriage. People often start by falling in love, and they go on for years without realizing that love must change into some other love which is so unlike it that it can hardly be recognized as love at all.
Irish-born British writer and philosopher (1919-1999)