--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I live, I live, with an absolutely…" description: "\"I live, I live, with an absolutely continuous sense of failure. I am always defeated, always. Every book is the wreck of a perfect idea. The years pass..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/029/iris-murdoch-993_book_i-live-i-live-with-an-absolutely-continu_159341.png" --- # I live, I live, with an absolutely continuous sense of… ![“I live, I live, with an absolutely continuous sense of failure. I am always defeated, always. Every book is the wreck of a perfect idea. The years pass and one has only one life. If one has a thing at all one must do it and keep on and on and on trying to do it better.” quote by Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/029/iris-murdoch-993_book_i-live-i-live-with-an-absolutely-continu_159341.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/029/iris-murdoch-993_book_i-live-i-live-with-an-absolutely-continu_159341.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/029/iris-murdoch-993_book_i-live-i-live-with-an-absolutely-continu_159341.png) > “I live, I live, with an absolutely continuous sense of failure. I am always defeated, always. Every book is the wreck of a perfect idea. The years pass and one has only one life. If one has a thing at all one must do it and keep on and on and on trying to do it better.” [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 persistent feeling of failure can coexist with a drive to keep improving and pursuing one’s purpose. **In simple terms:** Feeling failed yet driven to improve. Key Takeaway Embrace failure as fuel for continual effort. Themes self‑doubt perseverance creativity purpose Mood reflective determined Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - writing - artistic projects - personal development - career challenges Key Concepts existential angst resilience creative process Questions to Reflect On - How can you transform self‑criticism into motivation? - What small step can you take today toward a better version of your work? A Different Perspective Failure can become paralyzing if not reframed as learning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Book Wreck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book-wreck-1751957/) [Defeated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/defeated/) [Defeated Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/defeated-book-1751956/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Failure Defeated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure-defeated-1142234/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Perfect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perfect/) [Sense Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sense-failure-393034/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) [Wrecks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wrecks/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) ## Related quotes > [Every book is the wreck of a perfect idea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/every-book-is-the-wreck-of-a-perfect-idea/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [A man is not a failure when he is defeated. He fails when he give up and quit trying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anurag-prakash-ray/a-man-is-not-a-failure-when-he-is-defeated-he-fails-when-he-give-up/) [Anurag Prakash Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anurag-prakash-ray/) > [The moment you start losing self-confidence is the moment you accept failure and to be defeated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-tokonya/the-moment-you-start-losing-self-confidence-is-the-moment-you-accept/) [Bernard Tokonya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-tokonya/) > [There is a lot of difference between failure and defeat. Failure is when you are defeated and neither learn nor contribute anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hubert-h-humphrey/there-is-a-lot-of-difference-between-failure-and-defeat-failure-is/) [Hubert H. Humphrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hubert-h-humphrey/) > [I don't want my children to feel the same sense of failure I did growing up because they're not good at passing tests.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-fogle/i-don-t-want-my-children-to-feel-the-same-sense-of-failure-i-did/) [Ben Fogle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-fogle/) > [There's nothing more physically exhausting than a sense of failure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/there-s-nothing-more-physically-exhausting-than-a-sense-of-failure/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [Never let the sense of failure corrupt your new action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oswald-chambers/never-let-the-sense-of-failure-corrupt-your-new-action/) [Oswald Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oswald-chambers/) > [She felt a stealing sense of fatigue as she walked; the sparkle had died out of her, and the taste of life was stale…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/she-felt-a-stealing-sense-of-fatigue-as-she-walked-the-sparkle-had/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“What made his face burn was a sense of failure, the yearning for freedom that remained unfulfilled and the acute realisation that he didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/park-wansuh/what-made-his-face-burn-was-a-sense-of-failure-the-yearning-for/) [Park Wansuh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/park-wansuh/) > [Do not nag yourself with a sense of failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-b-hinckley/do-not-nag-yourself-with-a-sense-of-failure/) [Gordon B. Hinckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-b-hinckley/) > [That sense of failure, I don't know where people put it who don't write songs and aren't able to emote physically. It must go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sting/that-sense-of-failure-i-don-t-know-where-people-put-it-who-don-t/) [Sting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sting/) > [Using, as an excuse, others' failure of common sense is in itself a failure of common sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/using-as-an-excuse-others-failure-of-common-sense-is-in-itself-a/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [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. Their essence is the same. The essence of both of them is love. Love is the perception…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/art-and-morality-are-with-certain-provisos-one-their-essence-is-the/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [being homosexual doesn't determine a man's whole character any more than being heterosexual does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/being-homosexual-doesn-t-determine-a-man-s-whole-character-any-more/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [All artists dream of a silence which they must enter, as some creatures return to the sea to spawn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/all-artists-dream-of-a-silence-which-they-must-enter-as-some/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [“Oh if only I could take my mother away and never know of these things again. 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/) > [Love is the perception of individuals. Love is the extremely difficult realisation that something other than oneself is real.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/love-is-the-perception-of-individuals-love-is-the-extremely-difficult/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) [Explore all 306 Iris Murdoch quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) ## More Book quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [I don't think I have made as much of my life as I should have. 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. It takes thought and research and a backache and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/people-talk-about-books-that-write-themselves-and-it-s-a-lie-books/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [There are great books in this world and great worlds in books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/there-are-great-books-in-this-world-and-great-worlds-in-books/) [Anne Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [The purpose of this book is to supply, in the form suitable for laymen, guidance in the adoption and execution of an investment policy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/the-purpose-of-this-book-is-to-supply-in-the-form-suitable-for-laymen/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [But I think that of all the literature that I studied, the book that did more than any other to fire my enthusiasm was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kwame-nkrumah/but-i-think-that-of-all-the-literature-that-i-studied-the-book-that/) [Kwame Nkrumah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kwame-nkrumah/) > [It's amazing to see things that are suggested in the book fully developed and so brilliantly realized through the artistry of the designers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/it-s-amazing-to-see-things-that-are-suggested-in-the-book-fully/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [“But I’ve developed a great reputation for wisdom by ordering more books than I ever had time to read, and reading more books, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/but-i-ve-developed-a-great-reputation-for-wisdom-by-ordering-more/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) [Browse all 29,378 Book quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I live, I live, with an absolutely continuous sense of failure. 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