Phyllis McGinley

Of one thing I am certain, the body is not the measure of healing, peace is the measure.

— Phyllis McGinley

Nothing fails like success; nothing is so defeated as yesterday's triumphant Cause.

— Phyllis McGinley

Scratch any father, you find / Someone chock-full of qualms and romantic terrors, / Believing change is a threat.

— Phyllis McGinley

Kindness is a virtue neither modern nor urban. One almost unlearns it in a city. Towns have their own beatitude; they are…

— Phyllis McGinley

Relations are errors that Nature makes. / Your spouse you can put on the shelf. / But your friends, dear friends, are…

— Phyllis McGinley

The human animal needs a freedom seldom mentioned, freedom from intrusion. He needs a little privacy as much as he wants understanding…

— Phyllis McGinley

In spring when maple buds are red, We turn the clock an hour ahead; Which means, each April that arrives, We lose…

— Phyllis McGinley

Meanness inherits a set of silverware and keeps it in the bank. Economy uses it only on important occasions, for fear of…

— Phyllis McGinley

The wonderful thing about saints is that they were human. They lost their tempers, got hungry, scolded God, were egotistical or impatient…

— Phyllis McGinley

A lady is smarter than a gentleman, maybe, she can sew a fine seam, she can have a baby, she can use…

— Phyllis McGinley

The East is a montage. It is old and it is young, very green in summer, very white in winter, gregarious, withdrawn…

— Phyllis McGinley

Frigidity is largely nonsense. It is this generation's catchword, one only vaguely understood and constantly misused. Frigid women are few. There is…

— Phyllis McGinley

Rain is my lover, my apple strudel. / It haunts my heels like a pedigreed poodle. / Beyond the seas or across…

— Phyllis McGinley

Children are forced to live very rapidly in order to live at all. They are given only a few years in which…

— Phyllis McGinley

Marriage is a lot of things-an alliance, a sacrament, a comedy, or a mistake; but it is definitely not a partnership because…

— Phyllis McGinley

Say what you will, making marriage work is a woman's business. The institution was invented to do her homage; it was contrived…

— Phyllis McGinley

Pressed for rules and verities, All i recolelct are these: Feed a cold and starve a fever. Argue with no true believer.…

— Phyllis McGinley

For little boys are rancorous When robbed of any myth, And spiteful and cantankerous To all their kin and kith. But little…

— Phyllis McGinley

Of course we women gossip on occasion. But our appetite for it is not as avid as a man s. It is…

— Phyllis McGinley

I have read that during the process of canonization the Catholic Church demands proof of joy in the candidate, and although I…

— Phyllis McGinley

Sisters are always drying their hair. Locked into rooms, alone, they pose at the mirror, shoulders bare, trying this way and that…

— Phyllis McGinley

One applauds the industry of professional philanthropy. But it has its dangers. After a while the private heart begins to harden. We…

— Phyllis McGinley

In a successful marriage, there is no such thing as one's way. There is only the way of both, only the bumpy,…

— Phyllis McGinley

The successful truck gardener can never go out to dinner in the summer or spend a week end away, because his conscience…

— Phyllis McGinley

For the hearts of nurses are solid gold, / But their heels are flat and their hands are cold, / And their…

— Phyllis McGinley

Ah! some love Paris, / And some Purdue. / But love is an archer with a low I.Q. / A bold, bad…

— Phyllis McGinley

Let others, worn with living / And living's aftermath, / Take Sleep to heal the heart's distress, / Take Love to be…

— Phyllis McGinley

Borrow my umbrellas, my clothes, my money, and I will likely not think of them again. But borrow my books and I…

— Phyllis McGinley

Sometimes I have a notion that what might improve the situation is to have women take over the occupations of government and…

— Phyllis McGinley

The Enemy, who wears her mother's usual face and confidential tone, has access; doubtless stares into her writing case and listens on…

— Phyllis McGinley