Best of Iris Murdoch's "The Unicorn"

Here is a selection of memorable quotes from The Unicorn by Iris Murdoch

Painting above: "Woman at a window" by Caspar David Friedrich

He turned his head slightly and caught Marian’s eye. 

Something went through the middle of her like a shot and she looked away. 

Gerald might be untameable, unattainable, taboo; 

yet he was still for her the centre from which the furies came.

p.136

Nothing is more beautifully and acceptably self-assertive than good singing.

p.137

‘Brave fish.  Yes. I remember Hannah saying that once. 

She said their going up the rivers was like souls trying to approach God.’

‘They are certainly possessed by a strange desire.’

‘But to suffer so much-‘

‘Suffering is no scandal. It is natural. Nature appoints it. 

All creations suffers. It suffers from having been created, if from nothing else. 

It suffers from being divided from God.

p.198 (Marian and Denis discussing salmon)

Well, she is gone, thought Marian. 

And whether she will be free or destroyed I shall probably never know; 

and that is as it should be. 

No one should be a prisoner of other people’s thoughts, 

no one’s destiny should be open to inspection; 

and for a moment with her pity, 

she felt almost a resentment against Hannah for having so totally fascinated her.

p.200

An oldie but good one from The Toast (which was brilliant)- How To Tell If You Are In an Iris Murdoch Novel. 

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