--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is a spider called Amaurobius…" description: "\"There is a spider called Amaurobius, which lives in a burrow and has its young in the late summer, and then it dies when the frosts begin, and the youn..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1bf/iris-murdoch-993_accidents_there-is-a-spider-called-amaurobius-whic_1256498.png" --- # There is a spider called Amaurobius, which lives in a… ![“There is a spider called Amaurobius, which lives in a burrow and has its young in the late summer, and then it dies when the frosts begin, and the young spiders live through the cold by eating their mother's dead body. One can't believe that's an accident. I don't know that I imagined God as…” quote by Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1bf/iris-murdoch-993_accidents_there-is-a-spider-called-amaurobius-whic_1256498.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1bf/iris-murdoch-993_accidents_there-is-a-spider-called-amaurobius-whic_1256498.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1bf/iris-murdoch-993_accidents_there-is-a-spider-called-amaurobius-whic_1256498.png) > “There is a spider called Amaurobius, which lives in a burrow and has its young in the late summer, and then it dies when the frosts begin, and the young spiders live through the cold by eating their mother's dead body. One can't believe that's an accident. I don't know that I imagined God as having thought it all out, but somehow He was connected with the pattern, He was the pattern...” [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. Nature’s brutal cycles suggest a purposeful design, hinting at divine pattern. **In simple terms:** Spider’s life cycle seems intentional, not accidental. Key Takeaway Consider deeper order behind natural events. Themes nature divine order life cycles Mood awe curious speculative Type philosophical spiritual When to use this quote - environmental studies - spiritual reflection - education - writing Key Concepts theology ecology philosophy of nature Questions to Reflect On - What does this pattern imply about meaning? - Can we find purpose in natural processes? A Different Perspective Interpretation may anthropomorphize nature; not proof of deity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accidents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accidents/) [Believe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believe/) [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Cold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cold/) [Connected](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/connected/) [Dies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dies/) [Eating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eating/) [Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/frost/) [God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Late](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/late/) [Late summer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/late-summer/) [Mother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mother/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Patterns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patterns/) [Spider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spider/) [Spider Called](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spider-called-3978645/) [Spiders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spiders/) [Spiders Live](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spiders-live-3621914/) [Summer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/summer/) [Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young/) [Young Spiders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young-spiders-3978646/) ## Related quotes > [Like letting spiders live because they eat mosquitoes, Clary thought. "So they're good enough to let live, good enough to make your food for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/like-letting-spiders-live-because-they-eat-mosquitoes-clary-thought/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [Experience unveils too late the snares laid for youth; it is the white frost which discovers the spider's web when the flies are no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-antoine-petit-senn/experience-unveils-too-late-the-snares-laid-for-youth-it-is-the-white/) [Jean Antoine Petit-Senn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-antoine-petit-senn/) > [“I’d hate you to lose it before you got your tongue, fingers, and cock inside of me.” “Tate…” Logan said, looking over his own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-frank/i-d-hate-you-to-lose-it-before-you-got-your-tongue-fingers-and-cock/) [Ella Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-frank/) > [“Every year, Kansas watches the world die. Civilizations of wheat grow tall and green; they grow old and golden, and then men shaped from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-d-wilson/every-year-kansas-watches-the-world-die-civilizations-of-wheat-grow/) [N.D. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-d-wilson/) > [“What is it about the Greek character that has allowed this complex culture to thrive for millennia? The Greek Isles are home to an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-brooks/what-is-it-about-the-greek-character-that-has-allowed-this-complex/) [Laura Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-brooks/) > [“Author’s Note Caroline is a marriage of fact and Laura Ingalls Wilder’s fiction. I have knowingly departed from Wilder’s version of events only where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-miller/author-s-note-caroline-is-a-marriage-of-fact-and-laura-ingalls-wilder/) [Sarah Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-miller/) > [It’s the place of the story, beginning here, in the meadow of late summer flowers, thriving before the Atlantic storms drive wet and winter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-maguire/it-s-the-place-of-the-story-beginning-here-in-the-meadow-of-late/) [Gregory Maguire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-maguire/) > [“In the late summer of that year we lived in a house in a village that looked across the river and the plain to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/in-the-late-summer-of-that-year-we-lived-in-a-house-in-a-village-that/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“The Czechs are downright crazy about mushrooms! In late summer and autumn, a foreigner might even get the impression that the number of sponge-hunting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terje-b-englund/the-czechs-are-downright-crazy-about-mushrooms-in-late-summer-and/) [Terje B. Englund](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terje-b-englund/) > [“Five minutes later, the girls stood at the open kitchen door, blinking in the brilliant overcast light. The smell of lilacs, roses, sweet peas,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-dixon/five-minutes-later-the-girls-stood-at-the-open-kitchen-door-blinking/) [Heather Dixon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-dixon/) > [“Mrs. Miniver suddenly understood why she was enjoying the forties so much better than she had enjoyed the thirties: it was the difference between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-struther/mrs-miniver-suddenly-understood-why-she-was-enjoying-the-forties-so/) [Jan Struther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-struther/) > [“It was one of those late summer days trying its best to convince everyone that winter would never seep through and ravage the earth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-waines/it-was-one-of-those-late-summer-days-trying-its-best-to-convince/) [A.J. Waines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-waines/) > [At a meeting in her office in the late summer of 2002, months before the war in Iraq, prisoner abuse at Guantanamo is discussed.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seymour-hersh/at-a-meeting-in-her-office-in-the-late-summer-of-2002-months-before/) [Seymour Hersh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seymour-hersh/) > [“she can remember everyone admiring a rare kind of evening they spoke of as something they ought to save from oblivion to describe to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/she-can-remember-everyone-admiring-a-rare-kind-of-evening-they-spoke/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [“Mr. Grote shows me how he grows wild rice in the stream and collects the seeds. The rice is nutty and brown. He plants…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-baker-kline/mr-grote-shows-me-how-he-grows-wild-rice-in-the-stream-and-collects/) [Christina Baker Kline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-baker-kline/) ## 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 Accidents quotes > [Almost all accidents take place because of human distraction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-thrun/almost-all-accidents-take-place-because-of-human-distraction/) [Sebastian Thrun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-thrun/) > [It was no accident, no coincidence, that the seasons came round and round year after year. It was the Lord speaking to us all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-rivers/it-was-no-accident-no-coincidence-that-the-seasons-came-round-and/) [Francine Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-rivers/) > [No, I think most astronauts recognize that the space shuttle program is very high-risk, and are prepared for accidents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-ride/no-i-think-most-astronauts-recognize-that-the-space-shuttle-program/) [Sally Ride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-ride/) > [In presenting a mathematical argument the great thing is to give the educated reader the chance to catch on at once to the momentary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edensor-littlewood/in-presenting-a-mathematical-argument-the-great-thing-is-to-give-the/) [John Edensor Littlewood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edensor-littlewood/) > [The only way to have a funeral is to invite everyone who ever knew the person and just wait for the accident to happen-somebody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-roth/the-only-way-to-have-a-funeral-is-to-invite-everyone-who-ever-knew/) [Philip Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-roth/) > [Good films are not made by accident, nor is good photography. You can have good things happen, on occasion, by accident that can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-willis/good-films-are-not-made-by-accident-nor-is-good-photography-you-can/) [Gordon Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-willis/) > [By education I am an Englishman, by views an internationalist, by culture a Muslim and a Hindu only by accident of birth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jawaharlal-nehru/by-education-i-am-an-englishman-by-views-an-internationalist-by/) [Jawaharlal Nehru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jawaharlal-nehru/) > [I made out with a homeless guy by accident. I had no idea -- he was really tan, he had no shoes on. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-schumer/i-made-out-with-a-homeless-guy-by-accident-i-had-no-idea-he-was/) [Amy Schumer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-schumer/) > [Naturally I feel no shame in writing these things because of the time which separates the moment when they are written--when only I can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-ernaux/naturally-i-feel-no-shame-in-writing-these-things-because-of-the-time/) [Annie Ernaux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-ernaux/) > [In a city where you walk around, it's impossible to plan your day and your life as accidents will happen, you'll overhear things, bump…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-schwartzman/in-a-city-where-you-walk-around-it-s-impossible-to-plan-your-day-and/) [Jason Schwartzman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-schwartzman/) > [I don't think it's by accident that I was first attracted to translating two French women poets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-hacker/i-don-t-think-it-s-by-accident-that-i-was-first-attracted-to/) [Marilyn Hacker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-hacker/) > [Despite my mentors advice that I would never go to heaven fishing with a weighted nymph and a float, I took it up. (As…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-bishop/despite-my-mentors-advice-that-i-would-never-go-to-heaven-fishing/) [Tony Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-bishop/) > [Dont stand outside in a lightning shower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/padraig/dont-stand-outside-in-a-lightning-shower/) [Padraig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/padraig/) > [In the eyes of those lovers of perfection, a work is never finished a word that for them has no sense but abandoned; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/in-the-eyes-of-those-lovers-of-perfection-a-work-is-never-finished-a/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [My musical career was an accident.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sade-adu/my-musical-career-was-an-accident/) [Sade Adu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sade-adu/) [Browse all 1,971 Accidents quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accidents/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There is a spider called Amaurobius, which lives in a burrow and has its young in the late summer, and then it dies when the frosts begin, and the young spiders live through the cold by eating their mother's dead body. One can't believe that's an accident. I don't know that I imagined God as having thought it all out, but somehow He was connected with the pattern, He was the pattern...", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Iris Murdoch" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/there-is-a-spider-called-amaurobius-which-lives-in-a-burrow-and-has/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Accidents" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/there-is-a-spider-called-amaurobius-which-lives-in-a-burrow-and-has/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1bf/iris-murdoch-993_accidents_there-is-a-spider-called-amaurobius-whic_1256498.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1bf/iris-murdoch-993_accidents_there-is-a-spider-called-amaurobius-whic_1256498.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1bf/iris-murdoch-993_accidents_there-is-a-spider-called-amaurobius-whic_1256498.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There is a spider called Amaurobius, which lives in a burrow and has its young in the late summer, and then…” — 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": "There is a spider called Amaurobius,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/there-is-a-spider-called-amaurobius-which-lives-in-a-burrow-and-has/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/there-is-a-spider-called-amaurobius-which-lives-in-a-burrow-and-has/#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 } } ] } ```