If someone tells you he is going to make a realistic decision, you immediately understand that he is going to do something… — Mary McCarthy Choice Copy Share Image
most people did not care to be taught what they did not already know; it made them feel ignorant. — Mary McCarthy Care Copy Share Image
A novelist is an elephant, but an elephant who must pretend to forget. — Mary McCarthy Elephant Copy Share Image
On the wall of our life together hung a gun waiting to be fired in the final act. — Mary McCarthy Copy Share Image
It really takes a hero to live any kind of spiritual life without religious belief. — Mary McCarthy Belief Copy Share Image
We all live in suspense, from day to day, from hour to hour; in other words, we are the hero of our… — Mary McCarthy Copy Share Image
The relation between life and literature - a final antimony - is one of mutual plagiarism. — Mary McCarthy Books Copy Share Image
The comic element is the incorrigible element in every human being; the capacity to learn, from experience or instruction, is what is… — Mary McCarthy Copy Share Image
The return to a favorite novel is generally tied up with changes in oneself that must be counted as improvements, but have… — Mary McCarthy Book Copy Share Image
With extramarital courtship, the deception was prolonged where it had been ephemeral, necessary where it had been frivolous, conspiratorial where it had… — Mary McCarthy Courtship Copy Share Image
The labor of keeping house is labor in its most naked state, for labor is toil that never finishes, toil that has… — Mary McCarthy Copy Share Image
If someone tells you he is going to make a ealistic decision, you immediately understand that he has resolved to do something… — Mary McCarthy Choice Copy Share Image
I suppose everyone continues to be interested in the quest for the self, but what you feel when you're older, I think,… — Mary McCarthy Adventure Copy Share Image
this is the spirit of the enchantment under which Venice lies, pearly and roseate, like the Sleeping Beauty, changeless throughout the centuries,… — Mary McCarthy Copy Share Image
Proscription, martial law, the billeting of the rude troops, the tax collector, the unjust judge, anything at all, is sweeter than responsibility. — Mary McCarthy Collectors Copy Share Image
The breakdown of our language, evident in the misuse, i.e., the misunderstanding of nouns and adjectives, is most grave, though perhaps not… — Mary McCarthy Copy Share Image
... it was religion that saved me. Our ugly church and parochial school provided me with my only aesthetic outlet, in the… — Mary McCarthy Aesthetic Copy Share Image
I shall never send for a priest or recite an Act of Contrition in my last moments. I do not mind if… — Mary McCarthy Care Copy Share Image
Anti-Semitism is a horrible disease from which nobody is immune, and it has a kind of evil fascination that makes an enlightened… — Mary McCarthy Copy Share Image
To care for the quarrels of the past, to identify oneself passionately with a cause that became, politically speaking, a losing cause… — Mary McCarthy America Copy Share Image
A society person who is enthusiastic about modern painting or Truman Capote is already half a traitor to his class. It is… — Mary McCarthy Artist Copy Share Image
Yet friendship, I believe, is essential to intellectuals. It is probably the growth hormone the mind requires as it begins its activity… — Mary McCarthy Copy Share Image
It is impossible, except for theologians, to conceive of a world-wide scandal or a universe-wide scandal; the proof of this is the… — Mary McCarthy Bombs Copy Share Image
For both writer and reader, the novel is a lonely, physically inactive affair. Only the imagination races. — Mary McCarthy Affair Copy Share Image
You mustn't force sex to do the work of love or love to do the work of sex. — Mary McCarthy Copy Share Image
I was going to get myself recognized at any price. If I could not win fame by goodness, I was ready to… — Mary McCarthy Copy Share Image
Calling someone a monster does not make him more guilty; it makes him less so by classing him with beasts and devils. — Mary McCarthy Beast Copy Share Image
To be disesteemed by people you don't have much respect for is not the worst fate. — Mary McCarthy Fate Copy Share Image
Maybe any action becomes cowardly once you stop to reason about it. — Mary McCarthy Action Copy Share Image
You musn't force sex to do the work of love or love to do the work of sex. — Mary McCarthy Copy Share Image
If you want to be your own master ... always be surprised by evil; never anticipate it. — Mary McCarthy Copy Share Image
What I really do is take real plums and put them in an imaginary cake. — Mary McCarthy Copy Share Image
Be truthful... and pay attention. I would also recommend the avoidance of credit cards. — Mary McCarthy Advice Copy Share Image
Making love, we are all more alike than we are when we are talking or acting. — Mary McCarthy Acting Copy Share Image
People with bad consciences always fear the judgment of children. — Mary McCarthy Children Copy Share Image
My occupational hazard is that I can't help plagiarizing from real life. — Mary McCarthy Copy Share Image
In science, all facts, no matter how trivial or banal, enjoy democratic equality. — Mary McCarthy Copy Share Image
We are a nation of 20 million bathrooms, with a humanist in every tub. — Mary McCarthy Copy Share Image
