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Mary McCarthy Quotes

To care for the quarrels of the past, to identify oneself passionately with a cause that became, politically speaking, a losing cause with the birth of the modern world, is to experience a kind of straining against reality, a rebellious nonconformity that, again, is rare in America, where children are instructed in the virtues of the system they live under, as though history had achieved a happy ending in American civics Picture Quote #1

It has to be acknowledged that in capitalist society, with its herds of hippies, originality has become a sort of fringe benefit, a mere convention, accepted obsolescence, the Beatnik model being turned in for the Hippie model, as though strangely obedient to capitalist laws of marketing Picture Quote #1

In politics, it seems, retreat is honorable if dictated by military considerations and shameful if even suggested for ethical reasons Picture Quote #1

Liberty, as it is conceived by current opinion, has nothing inherent about it; it is a sort of gift or trust bestowed on the individual by the state pending good behavior Picture Quote #1

Being abroad makes you conscious of the whole imitative side of human behavior. The ape in man Picture Quote #1

I suppose everyone continues to be interested in the quest for the self, but what you feel when you're older, I think, is that - how to express this - you really must make the self. It's absolutely useless to look for it, you won't find it, but it's possible in some sense to make it Picture Quote #1

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I'm afraid I'm not sufficiently inhibited about the things that other women are inhibited about for me. They feel that you've given away trade secrets Picture Quote #1

If someone tells you he is going to make a

Is it really so difficult to tell a good action from a bad one? I think one usually knows right away or a moment afterward, in a horrid flash of regret Picture Quote #1

Labor is work that leaves no trace behind it when it is finished, or if it does, as in the case of the tilled field, this product of human activity requires still more labor, incessant, tireless labor, to maintain its identity as a

The American character looks always as if it had just had a rather bad haircut, which gives it, in our eyes at any rate, a greater humanity than the European, which even among its beggars has an all too professional air Picture Quote #1

The immense popularity of American movies abroad demonstrates that Europe is the unfinished negative of which America is the proof Picture Quote #1

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The labor of keeping house is labor in its most naked state, for labor is toil that never finishes, toil that has to be begun again the moment it is completed, toil that is destroyed and consumed by the life process Picture Quote #1

The suspense of a novel is not only in the reader, but in the novelist, who is intensely curious about what will happen to the hero Picture Quote #1

The theater is the only branch of art much cared for by people of wealth; like canasta, it does away with the brother of talk after dinner Picture Quote #1

We all live in suspense from day to day; in other words, you are the hero of your own story Picture Quote #1

When an American heiress wants to buy a man, she at once crosses the Atlantic. The only really materialistic people I have ever met have been Europeans Picture Quote #1

I do not mind if I lose my soul for all eternity. If the kind of God exists Who would damn me for not working out a deal with Him, then that is unfortunate. I should not care to spend eternity in the company of such a person Picture Quote #1

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You mustn't force sex to do the work of love or love to do the work of sex Picture Quote #1

Calling someone a monster does not make him more guilty; it makes him less so by classing him with beasts and devils Picture Quote #1

As happens with sports and hobbies, his enjoyment was solemnized by expertise, the rites of comparing, collating, a half-deliberate parody of scholarship like the recitation of batting averages Picture Quote #1

To be disesteemed by people you don't have much respect for is not the worst fate Picture Quote #1

For me, in fact, the mark of the historic is the nonchalance with which it picks up an individual and deposits him in a trend, like a house playfully moved by a tornado Picture Quote #1

He was deferential, ingratiating, concerned for your pleasure, like a waiter with a tray of French pastry in his hand Picture Quote #1

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If you talked or laughed in church, told lies, had impure thoughts or conversations, you were bad; if you obeyed your parents or guardians, went to confession and communion regularly, said prayers for the dead, you were good Picture Quote #1

The moment had come for her to tell her husband. By this single, cathartic act, she would, she believed, rid herself of the doubts and anxieties that beset her Picture Quote #1

Congress - these, for the most part, illiterate hacks whose fancy vests are spotted with gravy, and whose speeches, hypocritical, unctuous, and slovenly, are spotted also with the gravy of political patronage Picture Quote #1

If he dropped a pun or a platitude into the conversation, it was just as if he had dropped a plate - there would be a moment of frozen silence, then the talk would go on as before Picture Quote #1

With extramarital courtship, the deception was prolonged where it had been ephemeral, necessary where it had been frivolous, conspiratorial where it had been lonely Picture Quote #1

A good deal of education consists of unlearning - the breaking of bad habits as with a tennis serve Picture Quote #1

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Text Quotes

To care for the quarrels of the past, to identify oneself passionately with a cause that became, politically speaking, a losing cause with the birth of the modern world, is to experience a kind of straining against reality, a rebellious nonconformity that, again, is rare in America, where children are instructed in the virtues of the system they live under, as though history had achieved a happy ending in American civics (Mary McCarthy Quotes) It has to be acknowledged that in capitalist society, with its herds of hippies, originality has become a sort of fringe benefit, a mere convention, accepted obsolescence, the Beatnik model being turned in for the Hippie model, as though strangely obedient to capitalist laws of marketing (Mary McCarthy Quotes) In politics, it seems, retreat is honorable if dictated by military considerations and shameful if even suggested for ethical reasons (Mary McCarthy Quotes) Liberty, as it is conceived by current opinion, has nothing inherent about it; it is a sort of gift or trust bestowed on the individual by the state pending good behavior (Mary McCarthy Quotes) Being abroad makes you conscious of the whole imitative side of human behavior. The ape in man (Mary McCarthy Quotes) I suppose everyone continues to be interested in the quest for the self, but what you feel when you're older, I think, is that - how to express this - you really must make the self. It's absolutely useless to look for it, you won't find it, but it's possible in some sense to make it (Mary McCarthy Quotes) I'm afraid I'm not sufficiently inhibited about the things that other women are inhibited about for me. They feel that you've given away trade secrets (Mary McCarthy Quotes) If someone tells you he is going to make a "realistic decision," you immediately understand that he has resolved to do something bad (Mary McCarthy Quotes) Is it really so difficult to tell a good action from a bad one? I think one usually knows right away or a moment afterward, in a horrid flash of regret (Mary McCarthy Quotes) Labor is work that leaves no trace behind it when it is finished, or if it does, as in the case of the tilled field, this product of human activity requires still more labor, incessant, tireless labor, to maintain its identity as a "work" of man (Mary McCarthy Quotes) The American character looks always as if it had just had a rather bad haircut, which gives it, in our eyes at any rate, a greater humanity than the European, which even among its beggars has an all too professional air (Mary McCarthy Quotes) The immense popularity of American movies abroad demonstrates that Europe is the unfinished negative of which America is the proof (Mary McCarthy Quotes) The labor of keeping house is labor in its most naked state, for labor is toil that never finishes, toil that has to be begun again the moment it is completed, toil that is destroyed and consumed by the life process (Mary McCarthy Quotes) The suspense of a novel is not only in the reader, but in the novelist, who is intensely curious about what will happen to the hero (Mary McCarthy Quotes) The theater is the only branch of art much cared for by people of wealth; like canasta, it does away with the brother of talk after dinner (Mary McCarthy Quotes) We all live in suspense from day to day; in other words, you are the hero of your own story (Mary McCarthy Quotes) When an American heiress wants to buy a man, she at once crosses the Atlantic. The only really materialistic people I have ever met have been Europeans (Mary McCarthy Quotes) I do not mind if I lose my soul for all eternity. If the kind of God exists Who would damn me for not working out a deal with Him, then that is unfortunate. I should not care to spend eternity in the company of such a person (Mary McCarthy Quotes) You mustn't force sex to do the work of love or love to do the work of sex (Mary McCarthy Quotes) Calling someone a monster does not make him more guilty; it makes him less so by classing him with beasts and devils (Mary McCarthy Quotes) As happens with sports and hobbies, his enjoyment was solemnized by expertise, the rites of comparing, collating, a half-deliberate parody of scholarship like the recitation of batting averages (Mary McCarthy Quotes) To be disesteemed by people you don't have much respect for is not the worst fate (Mary McCarthy Quotes) For me, in fact, the mark of the historic is the nonchalance with which it picks up an individual and deposits him in a trend, like a house playfully moved by a tornado (Mary McCarthy Quotes) He was deferential, ingratiating, concerned for your pleasure, like a waiter with a tray of French pastry in his hand (Mary McCarthy Quotes) If you talked or laughed in church, told lies, had impure thoughts or conversations, you were bad; if you obeyed your parents or guardians, went to confession and communion regularly, said prayers for the dead, you were good (Mary McCarthy Quotes) The moment had come for her to tell her husband. By this single, cathartic act, she would, she believed, rid herself of the doubts and anxieties that beset her (Mary McCarthy Quotes) Congress - these, for the most part, illiterate hacks whose fancy vests are spotted with gravy, and whose speeches, hypocritical, unctuous, and slovenly, are spotted also with the gravy of political patronage (Mary McCarthy Quotes) If he dropped a pun or a platitude into the conversation, it was just as if he had dropped a plate - there would be a moment of frozen silence, then the talk would go on as before (Mary McCarthy Quotes) With extramarital courtship, the deception was prolonged where it had been ephemeral, necessary where it had been frivolous, conspiratorial where it had been lonely (Mary McCarthy Quotes) A good deal of education consists of unlearning - the breaking of bad habits as with a tennis serve (Mary McCarthy Quotes)

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