--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The present can try to bury the past, an…" description: "\"The present can try to bury the past, an operation that is most atrocious when it is most successful.\" — Mary McCarthy" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f7/mary-mccarthy-2691_operations_the-present-can-try-to-bury-the-past-an_2798587.png" --- # The present can try to bury the past, an operation that is… ![“The present can try to bury the past, an operation that is most atrocious when it is most successful.” quote by Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f7/mary-mccarthy-2691_operations_the-present-can-try-to-bury-the-past-an_2798587.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f7/mary-mccarthy-2691_operations_the-present-can-try-to-bury-the-past-an_2798587.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f7/mary-mccarthy-2691_operations_the-present-can-try-to-bury-the-past-an_2798587.png) > “The present can try to bury the past, an operation that is most atrocious when it is most successful.” [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Attempting to suppress history often backfires, making the hidden past more powerful. **In simple terms:** Burying the past can make it stronger. Key Takeaway Recognize and confront history. Themes memory history power Mood reflective somber Type cautionary analytical When to use this quote - personal healing - political discourse - education - activism Key Concepts psychology social control Questions to Reflect On - What past are you ignoring? - How does confronting history empower you? A Different Perspective Even successful suppression leaves lingering trauma. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Atrocious Successful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atrocious-successful-3432351/) [Bury Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bury-past-629138/) [Operation Atrocious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/operation-atrocious-3432352/) [Operations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/operations/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Past Operation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past-operation-3432350/) [Successful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/successful/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Try Bury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/try-bury-360853/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) ## Related quotes > [What you try to bury just ends up burying you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-wagner/what-you-try-to-bury-just-ends-up-burying-you/) [Jane Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-wagner/) > [The negative feelings, the things that are not good, where do you put them? You try to bury them down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eva-marcille/the-negative-feelings-the-things-that-are-not-good-where-do-you-put/) [Eva Marcille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eva-marcille/) > [“When people try to bury the truth they forget that it's a seed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/when-people-try-to-bury-the-truth-they-forget-that-it-s-a-seed/) [Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/) > [“When people try to bury you, remind yourself you are a seed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/when-people-try-to-bury-you-remind-yourself-you-are-a-seed/) [Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/) > [You may try to bury your feelings, but being secretive does nothing when its written all over your face.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-may-try-to-bury-your-feelings-but-being-secretive-does-nothing/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Thematically, I like playing with the ideas of stuff that you try to bury, and you think will go away, but instead you carry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/krysten-ritter/thematically-i-like-playing-with-the-ideas-of-stuff-that-you-try-to/) [Krysten Ritter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/krysten-ritter/) > [You can’t move ahead until you bury the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danielle-steel/you-can-t-move-ahead-until-you-bury-the-past/) [Danielle Steel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danielle-steel/) > [Sometimes we have to face the things that hurt us most. 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To bury the past along with who you were, to create a new life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lori-austin/i-understand-more-than-most-the-need-to-become-another-to-bury-the/) [Lori Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lori-austin/) > [“Its odd how you cant bury the past deep enough that it wont claw its way back up”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-e-hilton/its-odd-how-you-cant-bury-the-past-deep-enough-that-it-wont-claw-its/) [David E. Hilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-e-hilton/) > [“That was a long time ago, but it's wrong what they say about the past, I've learned, about how you can bury it. Because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/that-was-a-long-time-ago-but-it-s-wrong-what-they-say-about-the-past/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [With our parents we bury our past, with our children our future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-von-ebner-eschenbach/with-our-parents-we-bury-our-past-with-our-children-our-future/) [Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-von-ebner-eschenbach/) ## More by Mary McCarthy > [From what I have seen, I am driven to the conclusion that religion is only good for good people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/from-what-i-have-seen-i-am-driven-to-the-conclusion-that-religion-is/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [In morals as in politics anarchy is not for the weak.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/in-morals-as-in-politics-anarchy-is-not-for-the-weak/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [Yet friendship, I believe, is essential to intellectuals. 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An aggressive churchgoer, she was quite without Christian feeling; the mercy of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/combativeness-was-i-suppose-the-dominant-trait-in-my-grandmother-s/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/i-m-afraid-i-m-not-sufficiently-inhibited-about-the-things-that-other/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [Be truthful... and pay attention. I would also recommend the avoidance of credit cards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/be-truthful-and-pay-attention-i-would-also-recommend-the-avoidance-of/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [All ideas advanced to deal with the Florentine noise problem, the Florentine traffic problem, are Utopian, and nobody believes in them, just as nobody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/all-ideas-advanced-to-deal-with-the-florentine-noise-problem-the/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) [Explore all 154 Mary McCarthy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) ## More Operations quotes > [I did not support Operation Desert Fox.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janeane-garofalo/i-did-not-support-operation-desert-fox/) [Janeane Garofalo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janeane-garofalo/) > [Well look, CIA is an agency that has to collect intelligence, do operations. 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I really hoped and wished they had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kofi-annan/you-will-recall-that-for-months-after-9-11-there-was-incredible/) [Kofi Annan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kofi-annan/) > [There is a patent office at the seat of government of the universe, whose managers are as much interested in the dispersion of seeds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/there-is-a-patent-office-at-the-seat-of-government-of-the-universe/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [In the formation of such a government, it is not only the right, but the indispensable duty of every citizen to examine the principles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noah-webster/in-the-formation-of-such-a-government-it-is-not-only-the-right-but/) [Noah Webster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noah-webster/) > [Without calculation, economic activity is impossible. 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