--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: we are such inward secret creatures, that…" description: "\"we are such inward secret creatures, that inwardness the most amazing thing about us, even more amazing than our reason. but we cannot just walk into t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ca/iris-murdoch-993_caverns_we-are-such-inward-secret-creatures-that_994378.jpg" --- # we are such inward secret creatures, that inwardness the… ![“we are such inward secret creatures, that inwardness the most amazing thing about us, even more amazing than our reason. but we cannot just walk into the cavern and look around. most of what we think we know about our minds is pseudo-knowledge. we are all such shocking poseurs, so good at…” quote by Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ca/iris-murdoch-993_caverns_we-are-such-inward-secret-creatures-that_994378.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ca/iris-murdoch-993_caverns_we-are-such-inward-secret-creatures-that_994378.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ca/iris-murdoch-993_caverns_we-are-such-inward-secret-creatures-that_994378.jpg) > “we are such inward secret creatures, that inwardness the most amazing thing about us, even more amazing than our reason. but we cannot just walk into the cavern and look around. most of what we think we know about our minds is pseudo-knowledge. we are all such shocking poseurs, so good at inflating the importance of what we think we value.” [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. Human beings are deeply inward‑focused, making self‑knowledge difficult; our perceived knowledge about the mind is often superficial. **In simple terms:** We are secretive; our mind knowledge is shallow. Key Takeaway Seek deeper self‑understanding beyond appearances. Themes self‑knowledge inwardness illusion Mood introspective thoughtful Type philosophical psychological When to use this quote - therapy - creative writing - mindfulness - education - leadership Key Concepts philosophy psychology self‑reflection Questions to Reflect On - What aspects of our inner self remain hidden? - How can we move beyond pseudo‑knowledge? A Different Perspective Our inner lives are more complex than we admit. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Caverns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/caverns/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Secret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secret/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Values](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/values/) ## Related quotes > [We are such inward secret creatures, that inwardness is the most amazing thing about us, even more amazing than our reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/we-are-such-inward-secret-creatures-that-inwardness-is-the-most/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [We must live by the light of our own self-satisfaction, through that secret vital busy inwardness which is even more remarkable than our reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/we-must-live-by-the-light-of-our-own-self-satisfaction-through-that/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [Inwardness is the characteristic feature of the vegetable rather than the animal approach to existence. The animals move, migrate and swarm, while plants hold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/inwardness-is-the-characteristic-feature-of-the-vegetable-rather-than/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [“Paradoxically (since people say: Work, amuse yourself, see friends) it’s when we’re busy, distracted, sought out, exteriorized, that we suffer most. Inwardness, calm, solitude…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/paradoxically-since-people-say-work-amuse-yourself-see-friends-it-s/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [To recognize another's inwardness is to have seen the sacred.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-koestenbaum/to-recognize-another-s-inwardness-is-to-have-seen-the-sacred/) [Peter Koestenbaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-koestenbaum/) > [“Consciousness is inwardness in time. It makes the world present for you by creating a new space in your mind—the space of temporal internality.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-metzinger/consciousness-is-inwardness-in-time-it-makes-the-world-present-for/) [Thomas Metzinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-metzinger/) > [Yes, I've got inwardness and tenderness, but I also get angry and vituperative, and you have to honour that as well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-harrison/yes-i-ve-got-inwardness-and-tenderness-but-i-also-get-angry-and/) [Tony Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-harrison/) > [ \[Emily\] Dickinson, our supreme poet of inwardness. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/emily-dickinson-our-supreme-poet-of-inwardness/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [It is with art as with love: How can a man of the world,with all his distractions, keep the inwardness which an artist must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/it-is-with-art-as-with-love-how-can-a-man-of-the-world-with-all-his/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [ Art on the contrary sought this harmony in practice \[of art itself\]. More and more in its creations it has given inwardness to that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piet-mondrian/art-on-the-contrary-sought-this-harmony-in-practice-of-art-itself/) [Piet Mondrian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/piet-mondrian/) > [Teaching like any truly human activity emerges from one's inwardness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/parker-j-palmer/teaching-like-any-truly-human-activity-emerges-from-one-s-inwardness-2/) [Parker J. Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/parker-j-palmer/) > [One can know worlds one has not experienced, choose a response to life that has never been offered, create an inwardness utterly strong and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/one-can-know-worlds-one-has-not-experienced-choose-a-response-to-life/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [“A person is an objective entity, which as a definite subject has the closest contacts with the whole (external) world and is most intimately…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-paul-ii/a-person-is-an-objective-entity-which-as-a-definite-subject-has-the/) [John Paul II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-paul-ii/) > [If poetry and the arts do anything, they can fortify your inner life, your inwardness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/if-poetry-and-the-arts-do-anything-they-can-fortify-your-inner-life/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Outward as well as inward morality helps to form the idea of a true Christian freedom. We are right to lay stress on inwardness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meister-eckhart/outward-as-well-as-inward-morality-helps-to-form-the-idea-of-a-true/) [Meister Eckhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meister-eckhart/) ## 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 Caverns quotes > [The beauty of New York is unintentional; it arose independent of human design, like a stalagmite cavern.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/the-beauty-of-new-york-is-unintentional-it-arose-independent-of-human/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [Birth: The first and direst of all disasters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/birth-the-first-and-direst-of-all-disasters/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [As the architecture of a country always follows the earliest structures, American architecture should be a refinement of the log-house. The Egyptian is so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/as-the-architecture-of-a-country-always-follows-the-earliest/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [When you enter a grove peopled with ancient trees, higher than the ordinary, and shutting out the sky with their thickly inter-twined branches, do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-you-enter-a-grove-peopled-with-ancient-trees-higher-than-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I know, perhaps as well as anyone, what depression means, and what it is to feel myself sinking lower and lower. Yet at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/i-know-perhaps-as-well-as-anyone-what-depression-means-and-what-it-is/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [Guess what it is that turns plants to coal. Pressure. Guess what it is that turns limestone to marble. Pressure. Guess what it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franny-billingsley/guess-what-it-is-that-turns-plants-to-coal-pressure-guess-what-it-is/) [Franny Billingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franny-billingsley/) > [Believing is a fine thing, but placing those beliefs into execution is a test of strength. Many are those who talk like the roar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khalil-gibran/believing-is-a-fine-thing-but-placing-those-beliefs-into-execution-is/) [Khalil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khalil-gibran/) > [I am an emptiness for Thee to fill; my soul a cavern for Thy sea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-macdonald/i-am-an-emptiness-for-thee-to-fill-my-soul-a-cavern-for-thy-sea/) [George MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-macdonald/) > [What shall we do, all of us? All of us oassionate girls who fear crushing the boys we love with our mouths like caverns…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francesca-lia-block/what-shall-we-do-all-of-us-all-of-us-oassionate-girls-who-fear/) [Francesca Lia Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francesca-lia-block/) > [See skulking Truth to her old cavern fled, Mountains of Casuistry heap'd o'er her head! Philosophy, that lean'd on Heav'n before, Shrinks to her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/see-skulking-truth-to-her-old-cavern-fled-mountains-of-casuistry-heap/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [Deep in the cavern of the infant's breast; the father's nature lurks, and lives anew.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/deep-in-the-cavern-of-the-infant-s-breast-the-father-s-nature-lurks/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure-dome decree: Where Alph, the sacred river, ran Through caverns measureless to man Down to a sunless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/in-xanadu-did-kubla-khan-a-stately-pleasure-dome-decree-where-alph/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [Enchanted worlds still exist because the child within us never dies. The doorways may be more obscure, but we can still seek them out.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-andrews/enchanted-worlds-still-exist-because-the-child-within-us-never-dies/) [Ted Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-andrews/) > [It's a physical urge, huger and stronger than thirst or sex. Halfway back on the left side of my head there is a spot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-hegland/it-s-a-physical-urge-huger-and-stronger-than-thirst-or-sex-halfway/) [Jean Hegland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-hegland/) > [Fresh beauty opens one's eyes wherever it is really seen, but the very abundance and completeness of the common beauty that besets our steps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-muir/fresh-beauty-opens-one-s-eyes-wherever-it-is-really-seen-but-the-very/) [John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/) [Browse all 75 Caverns quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/caverns/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "we are such inward secret creatures, that inwardness the most amazing thing about us, even more amazing than our reason. but we cannot just walk into the cavern and look around. most of what we think we know about our minds is pseudo-knowledge. we are all such shocking poseurs, so good at inflating the importance of what we think we value.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Iris Murdoch" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/we-are-such-inward-secret-creatures-that-inwardness-the-most-amazing/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Caverns" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/we-are-such-inward-secret-creatures-that-inwardness-the-most-amazing/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ca/iris-murdoch-993_caverns_we-are-such-inward-secret-creatures-that_994378.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ca/iris-murdoch-993_caverns_we-are-such-inward-secret-creatures-that_994378.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ca/iris-murdoch-993_caverns_we-are-such-inward-secret-creatures-that_994378.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“we are such inward secret creatures, that inwardness the most amazing thing about us, even more amazing than…” — 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": "we are such inward secret creatures,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/we-are-such-inward-secret-creatures-that-inwardness-the-most-amazing/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/we-are-such-inward-secret-creatures-that-inwardness-the-most-amazing/#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 } } ] } ```