--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Every book is the wreck of a perfect idea." description: "\"Every book is the wreck of a perfect idea.\" — Iris Murdoch" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f98/iris-murdoch-993_book_every-book-is-the-wreck-of-a-perfect-ide_1283999.png" --- # Every book is the wreck of a perfect idea. ![“Every book is the wreck of a perfect idea.” quote by Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f98/iris-murdoch-993_book_every-book-is-the-wreck-of-a-perfect-ide_1283999.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f98/iris-murdoch-993_book_every-book-is-the-wreck-of-a-perfect-ide_1283999.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f98/iris-murdoch-993_book_every-book-is-the-wreck-of-a-perfect-ide_1283999.png) > “Every book is the wreck of a perfect idea.” [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A work of art is often a flawed execution of an ideal concept. **In simple terms:** Great ideas can become imperfect in execution. Key Takeaway Accept imperfections in creative work. Themes creativity imperfection artistic vision Mood reflective melancholic Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - writing - painting - design - film production Key Concepts Aesthetic theory creative process Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance idealism with realism? - What compromises are acceptable in art? A Different Perspective Even perfect ideas may falter in practice. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Book Wreck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book-wreck-1751957/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Idea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/idea/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Perfect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perfect/) [Perfect Idea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perfect-idea-4159651/) [Wreck Perfect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wreck-perfect-4159650/) [Wrecks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wrecks/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [I live, I live, with an absolutely continuous sense of failure. I am always defeated, always. 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You can expect nothing but stupidity, nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/what-can-you-expect-from-a-stupid-government-anything-good-anything/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [If it doesn't work, at least it will be an interesting train wreck.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-ferguson/if-it-doesn-t-work-at-least-it-will-be-an-interesting-train-wreck/) [Craig Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-ferguson/) > [Give a civil servant a good case and he'll wreck it with clichés, bad punctuation, double negatives, and convoluted apology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-clark/give-a-civil-servant-a-good-case-and-he-ll-wreck-it-with-clich-s-bad/) [Alan Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-clark/) > [If you grow up in the suburbs, you hear of people dying of old age, car wrecks, cancer. 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And I truly believe that if it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-canseco/i-had-already-developed-inherited-back-problems-i-had-degenerative/) [Jose Canseco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-canseco/) > [I am a Rambling Wreck from Georgia Tech.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-zupan/i-am-a-rambling-wreck-from-georgia-tech/) [Mark Zupan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-zupan/) > [I just always wanted to sit in a casting session and see all of the train wrecks that come in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holland-roden/i-just-always-wanted-to-sit-in-a-casting-session-and-see-all-of-the/) [Holland Roden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holland-roden/) > [I am a frayed and nibbled survivor in a fallen world, and I am getting along. I am aging and eaten and have done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/i-am-a-frayed-and-nibbled-survivor-in-a-fallen-world-and-i-am-getting/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [So what if I'm ninety-three? So what if I'm ancient and cranky and my body's a wreck? If they're willing to accept me and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-gruen/so-what-if-i-m-ninety-three-so-what-if-i-m-ancient-and-cranky-and-my/) [Sara Gruen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-gruen/) > [And I add my own love to the history of people who have loved beautiful things, and looked out for them, and pulled them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/and-i-add-my-own-love-to-the-history-of-people-who-have-loved/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [I'm not great about putting on make-up, I look like a wreck half the time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwyneth-paltrow/i-m-not-great-about-putting-on-make-up-i-look-like-a-wreck-half-the/) [Gwyneth Paltrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwyneth-paltrow/) > [Got to say, dying would really wreck my best day. Been there, done that, and now that I think about it, Artemis forgot to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/got-to-say-dying-would-really-wreck-my-best-day-been-there-done-that/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) ## More by Iris Murdoch > [Falling out of love is chiefly a matter of forgetting how charming someone is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/falling-out-of-love-is-chiefly-a-matter-of-forgetting-how-charming/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [One doesn't have to get anywhere in a marriage. It's not a public conveyance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/one-doesn-t-have-to-get-anywhere-in-a-marriage-it-s-not-a-public/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [“I think being a woman is like being Irish... Everyone says you're important and nice, but you take second place all the time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/i-think-being-a-woman-is-like-being-irish-everyone-says-you-re/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [Art is the final cunning of the human soul which would rather do anything than face the gods.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/art-is-the-final-cunning-of-the-human-soul-which-would-rather-do/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [The sending of a letter constitutes a magical grasp upon the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/the-sending-of-a-letter-constitutes-a-magical-grasp-upon-the-future/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [emotions really exist at the bottom of the personality or at the top. in the middle they are acted. this is why all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/emotions-really-exist-at-the-bottom-of-the-personality-or-at-the-top/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [I have used the word "attention," which I borrow from Simone Weil, to express the idea of a just and loving gaze directed upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/i-have-used-the-word-attention-which-i-borrow-from-simone-weil-to/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [Starting a novel is opening a door on a misty landscape; you can still see very little but you can smell the earth and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/starting-a-novel-is-opening-a-door-on-a-misty-landscape-you-can-still/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [Art and morality are, with certain provisos…one. 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But it was impossible, the machine would go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/oh-if-only-i-could-take-my-mother-away-and-never-know-of-these-things/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [We defend ourselves by descriptions and tame the world by generalizing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/we-defend-ourselves-by-descriptions-and-tame-the-world-by-generalizing/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [“I'm sorry I was awful. I'm so full of terrors.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/i-m-sorry-i-was-awful-i-m-so-full-of-terrors/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [I live, I live, with an absolutely continuous sense of failure. I am always defeated, always. 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I should have written more books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/i-don-t-think-i-have-made-as-much-of-my-life-as-i-should-have-i/) [Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/) > [Some books are not read in the right way because they have skipped a stage of opinion, assume a crystallization of information in society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/some-books-are-not-read-in-the-right-way-because-they-have-skipped-a/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“People talk about books that write themselves, and it's a lie. Books don't write themselves. 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