--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Jealousy is the most dreadfully…" description: "\"Jealousy is the most dreadfully involuntary of all sins.\" — Iris Murdoch" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ee/iris-murdoch-993_involuntary_jealousy-is-the-most-dreadfully-involunt_1272297.png" --- # Jealousy is the most dreadfully involuntary of all sins. ![“Jealousy is the most dreadfully involuntary of all sins.” quote by Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ee/iris-murdoch-993_involuntary_jealousy-is-the-most-dreadfully-involunt_1272297.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ee/iris-murdoch-993_involuntary_jealousy-is-the-most-dreadfully-involunt_1272297.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ee/iris-murdoch-993_involuntary_jealousy-is-the-most-dreadfully-involunt_1272297.png) > “Jealousy is the most dreadfully involuntary of all sins.” [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. Jealousy arises without conscious choice, making it a particularly troubling sin because it bypasses moral intent. **In simple terms:** Jealousy is involuntary and troubling. Key Takeaway Recognize and manage jealous feelings. Themes jealousy morality selfawareness Mood reflective concerned Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - relationships - workplace - personal growth Key Concepts psychology ethics emotions Questions to Reflect On - What triggers your jealousy? - How can you transform jealousy into motivation? A Different Perspective Jealousy may be rationalized, obscuring accountability. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Jealousy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jealousy/) [Sin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sin/) [Sins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sins/) ## Related quotes > [Most real relationships are involuntary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/most-real-relationships-are-involuntary/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [We feel that our actions are voluntary when they follow a decision and involuntary when they happen without decision. But if a decision itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-feel-that-our-actions-are-voluntary-when-they-follow-a-decision/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The text moves like a small crustacean with compound eye and complex nervous system; throbbing, involuted, it becomes a parasite on a different body,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-brossard/the-text-moves-like-a-small-crustacean-with-compound-eye-and-complex/) [Nicole Brossard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-brossard/) > [“Fortunately, most of our vital physiological functions are involuntary, as some amongst us would forget them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-stafford/fortunately-most-of-our-vital-physiological-functions-are-involuntary/) [Stewart Stafford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-stafford/) > [Human beings are compelled to live within a lie, but they can be compelled to do so only because they are in fact capable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vaclav-havel/human-beings-are-compelled-to-live-within-a-lie-but-they-can-be/) [Vaclav Havel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vaclav-havel/) > [Desire and force between them are responsible for all our actions; desire causes our voluntary acts, force our involuntary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/desire-and-force-between-them-are-responsible-for-all-our-actions/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [Tears may be considered as the natural and involuntary resource of the mind overcome by some sudden and violent emotion, before ithas had time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/tears-may-be-considered-as-the-natural-and-involuntary-resource-of/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [INTENTION, n. The mind's sense of the prevalence of one set of influences over another set; an effect whose cause is the imminence, immediate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/intention-n-the-mind-s-sense-of-the-prevalence-of-one-set-of/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [One can promise actions, but not feelings, for the latter are involuntary. He who promises to love forever or hate forever or be forever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/one-can-promise-actions-but-not-feelings-for-the-latter-are/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [The theatre is the involuntary reflex of the ideas of the crowd.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-bernhardt/the-theatre-is-the-involuntary-reflex-of-the-ideas-of-the-crowd/) [Sarah Bernhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-bernhardt/) > [A scene should be selected by the writer for haunted-ness-of-mind interest. If you're not haunted by something, as by a dream, a vision, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/a-scene-should-be-selected-by-the-writer-for-haunted-ness-of-mind/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [Illness reduces man to his basic state: a cloaca in which the chemical processes continue. The meaningless hegemony of the involuntary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/illness-reduces-man-to-his-basic-state-a-cloaca-in-which-the-chemical/) [Paul Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bowles/) > [“Joy is a practice, not an involuntary state.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/joy-is-a-practice-not-an-involuntary-state/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [Verbs allow you to communicate a story in a much more converged or involuntary way for a reader. The verbs allow you to come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/verbs-allow-you-to-communicate-a-story-in-a-much-more-converged-or/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [Laughter is one of the great beacons in life because we don't refract it by gunning it through our intellectual prism. What makes us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-miller/laughter-is-one-of-the-great-beacons-in-life-because-we-don-t-refract/) [Dennis Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-miller/) ## 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/) > [I live, I live, with an absolutely continuous sense of failure. I am always defeated, always. Every book is the wreck of a perfect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/i-live-i-live-with-an-absolutely-continuous-sense-of-failure-i-am/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) [Explore all 306 Iris Murdoch quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) ## More Involuntary quotes > [Laughter is one of the great beacons in life because we don't refract it by gunning it through our intellectual prism. What makes us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-miller/laughter-is-one-of-the-great-beacons-in-life-because-we-don-t-refract/) [Dennis Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-miller/) > [Verbs allow you to communicate a story in a much more converged or involuntary way for a reader. The verbs allow you to come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/verbs-allow-you-to-communicate-a-story-in-a-much-more-converged-or/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [“Joy is a practice, not an involuntary state.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/joy-is-a-practice-not-an-involuntary-state/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [Illness reduces man to his basic state: a cloaca in which the chemical processes continue. The meaningless hegemony of the involuntary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/illness-reduces-man-to-his-basic-state-a-cloaca-in-which-the-chemical/) [Paul Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bowles/) > [A scene should be selected by the writer for haunted-ness-of-mind interest. If you're not haunted by something, as by a dream, a vision, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/a-scene-should-be-selected-by-the-writer-for-haunted-ness-of-mind/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [The theatre is the involuntary reflex of the ideas of the crowd.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-bernhardt/the-theatre-is-the-involuntary-reflex-of-the-ideas-of-the-crowd/) [Sarah Bernhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-bernhardt/) > [One can promise actions, but not feelings, for the latter are involuntary. He who promises to love forever or hate forever or be forever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/one-can-promise-actions-but-not-feelings-for-the-latter-are/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [INTENTION, n. The mind's sense of the prevalence of one set of influences over another set; an effect whose cause is the imminence, immediate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/intention-n-the-mind-s-sense-of-the-prevalence-of-one-set-of/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [Tears may be considered as the natural and involuntary resource of the mind overcome by some sudden and violent emotion, before ithas had time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/tears-may-be-considered-as-the-natural-and-involuntary-resource-of/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Desire and force between them are responsible for all our actions; desire causes our voluntary acts, force our involuntary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/desire-and-force-between-them-are-responsible-for-all-our-actions/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [Human beings are compelled to live within a lie, but they can be compelled to do so only because they are in fact capable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vaclav-havel/human-beings-are-compelled-to-live-within-a-lie-but-they-can-be/) [Vaclav Havel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vaclav-havel/) > [“Fortunately, most of our vital physiological functions are involuntary, as some amongst us would forget them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-stafford/fortunately-most-of-our-vital-physiological-functions-are-involuntary/) [Stewart Stafford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-stafford/) > [The text moves like a small crustacean with compound eye and complex nervous system; throbbing, involuted, it becomes a parasite on a different body,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-brossard/the-text-moves-like-a-small-crustacean-with-compound-eye-and-complex/) [Nicole Brossard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-brossard/) > [We feel that our actions are voluntary when they follow a decision and involuntary when they happen without decision. But if a decision itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-feel-that-our-actions-are-voluntary-when-they-follow-a-decision/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Life is what you make of it, unless you have tourette's, in which case much becomes involuntary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dov-davidoff/life-is-what-you-make-of-it-unless-you-have-tourette-s-in-which-case/) [Dov Davidoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dov-davidoff/) Browse all 148 Involuntary quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Jealousy is the most dreadfully involuntary of all sins.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Iris Murdoch" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/jealousy-is-the-most-dreadfully-involuntary-of-all-sins/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Involuntary" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/jealousy-is-the-most-dreadfully-involuntary-of-all-sins/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ee/iris-murdoch-993_involuntary_jealousy-is-the-most-dreadfully-involunt_1272297.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ee/iris-murdoch-993_involuntary_jealousy-is-the-most-dreadfully-involunt_1272297.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ee/iris-murdoch-993_involuntary_jealousy-is-the-most-dreadfully-involunt_1272297.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Jealousy is the most dreadfully involuntary of all sins.” — Iris Murdoch", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Iris Murdoch", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Jealousy is the most dreadfully involuntary...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/jealousy-is-the-most-dreadfully-involuntary-of-all-sins/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/jealousy-is-the-most-dreadfully-involuntary-of-all-sins/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```