--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The strongest argument for the…" description: "\"The strongest argument for the un-materialistic character of American life is the fact that we tolerate conditions that are, from a materialistic point..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/091/mary-mccarthy-2691_american-life_the-strongest-argument-for-the-un-materi_1306856.jpg" --- # The strongest argument for the un-materialistic character… ![“The strongest argument for the un-materialistic character of American life is the fact that we tolerate conditions that are, from a materialistic point of view, intolerable. ... No nation with any sense of material well-being would endure the food we eat, the cramped apartments we live in, the…” quote by Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/091/mary-mccarthy-2691_american-life_the-strongest-argument-for-the-un-materi_1306856.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/091/mary-mccarthy-2691_american-life_the-strongest-argument-for-the-un-materi_1306856.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/091/mary-mccarthy-2691_american-life_the-strongest-argument-for-the-un-materi_1306856.jpg) > “The strongest argument for the un-materialistic character of American life is the fact that we tolerate conditions that are, from a materialistic point of view, intolerable. ... No nation with any sense of material well-being would endure the food we eat, the cramped apartments we live in, the noise, the traffic, the crowded subways and buses. American life, in large cities, at any rate, is a perpetual assault on the senses and the nerves.” [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. The quote argues that American society tolerates harsh, sensory‑overwhelming conditions, showing that its values are not purely materialistic. **In simple terms:** American life endures unpleasant conditions, revealing non‑materialistic values. Key Takeaway Recognize the hidden costs of comfort. Themes culture urban life materialism sensory overload Mood critical reflective analytical Type observational critical philosophical When to use this quote - city living - public transportation - housing policy - consumer culture - public health Key Concepts social critique urban sociology psychology of discomfort Questions to Reflect On - What aspects of modern life do we accept without question? - How does sensory overload affect mental health? A Different Perspective It overlooks individuals who thrive in such environments and may romanticize hardship. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [American life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-life/) [Apartment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apartment/) [Argument](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/argument/) [Argument Materialistic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/argument-materialistic-2416727/) [Asceticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asceticism/) [Assault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assault/) [Bears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bears/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Cities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cities/) [Conditions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conditions/) [Conditions Materialistic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conditions-materialistic-2416728/) [Crowded](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crowded/) [Large cities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/large-cities/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life is](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-is/) [Materialistic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/materialistic/) [Materialistic Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/materialistic-character-2416729/) [Materialistic Point](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/materialistic-point-2416730/) [Nerves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nerves/) [Perpetual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perpetual/) [Point of view](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/point-of-view/) [Rate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rate/) [Senses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/senses/) [Strongest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strongest/) [Subway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subway/) [Tolerate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tolerate/) [Views](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/views/) ## Related quotes > [The strongest argument for the un-materialistic character of American life is that we tolerate conditions that are, from a materialistic point of view, intolerable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/the-strongest-argument-for-the-un-materialistic-character-of-american/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [The strongest argument for the unmaterialistic character of American life is . . . that we tolerate conditions that are, from a materialistic point…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/the-strongest-argument-for-the-unmaterialistic-character-of-american/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [American life, in large cities, is a perpetual assault on the senses and the nerves; it is out of asceticism, out of unworldliness, precisely,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-mccarthy/american-life-in-large-cities-is-a-perpetual-assault-on-the-senses/) [Joseph McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-mccarthy/) > [The materialistic point of view in psychology can claim, at best, only the value of an heuristic hypothesis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-wundt/the-materialistic-point-of-view-in-psychology-can-claim-at-best-only/) [Wilhelm Wundt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-wundt/) > [Poverty has, in large cities, very different appearances; it is often concealed in splendour, and often in extravagance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/poverty-has-in-large-cities-very-different-appearances-it-is-often/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [The tumultuous populace of large cities are ever to be dreaded.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/the-tumultuous-populace-of-large-cities-are-ever-to-be-dreaded/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [A good many inconveniences attend playgoing in any large city, but the greatest of them is usually the play itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-tynan/a-good-many-inconveniences-attend-playgoing-in-any-large-city-but-the/) [Kenneth Tynan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-tynan/) > [When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/when-we-get-piled-upon-one-another-in-large-cities-as-in-europe-we/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [...nuclear warfare is not necessary to cause a breakdown of our society. You take a large city like Los Angeles, New York, Chicago-their water…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-roddenberry/nuclear-warfare-is-not-necessary-to-cause-a-breakdown-of-our-society/) [Gene Roddenberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-roddenberry/) > [I think our governments will remain virtuous for many centuries; as long as they are chiefly agricultural.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-think-our-governments-will-remain-virtuous-for-many-centuries-as/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [A transition from an author's book to his conversation is too often like an entrance into a large city, after a distant prospect. Remotely,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/a-transition-from-an-author-s-book-to-his-conversation-is-too-often/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [A large city cannot be experientially known; its life is too manifold for any individual to be able to participate in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/a-large-city-cannot-be-experientially-known-its-life-is-too-manifold/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [In our large cities, the population is godless, materialized,--no bond, no fellow-feeling, no enthusiasm. These are not men, but hungers, thirsts, fevers, and appetites…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/in-our-large-cities-the-population-is-godless-materialized-no-bond-no/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Many, many large cities have old, crumbling infrastructure that have got to be dealt with in the nearest future, or they're going to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-natsios/many-many-large-cities-have-old-crumbling-infrastructure-that-have/) [Andrew Natsios](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-natsios/) > [ I think the book \[Straight to the Heart: Political Cantos\] has meaning for any large city with urban problems. There are political machines in… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-alioto/i-think-the-book-straight-to-the-heart-political-cantos-has-meaning/) [Angela Alioto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-alioto/) ## 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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Given a clean slate, man, it was hoped, would write the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/america-is-indeed-a-revelation-though-not-quite-the-one-that-was/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [The happy ending is our national belief.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/the-happy-ending-is-our-national-belief/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [Making love, we are all more alike than we are when we are talking or acting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/making-love-we-are-all-more-alike-than-we-are-when-we-are-talking-or/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [... in America ... children are instructed in the virtues of the system they live under, as though history had achieved a happy ending…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/in-america-children-are-instructed-in-the-virtues-of-the-system-they/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [The only form of action open to a child is to break something or strike someone, its mother or another child; it cannot cause…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/the-only-form-of-action-open-to-a-child-is-to-break-something-or/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [Combativeness was, I suppose, the dominant trait in my grandmother's nature. 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But there can be no peace if our security depends on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/as-americans-we-want-peace-we-work-and-sacrifice-for-peace-but-there/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [I'm Mexican-American, but I grew up with a normal American life. I don't have a low rider. I drive a Honda. I guess I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/snow-tha-product/i-m-mexican-american-but-i-grew-up-with-a-normal-american-life-i-don/) [Snow Tha Product](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/snow-tha-product/) > [“The line in the sand that Carter drew along Iran’s Zagros Mountains now stretches from Central Asia through the Middle East and across the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-j-bacevich/the-line-in-the-sand-that-carter-drew-along-iran-s-zagros-mountains/) [Andrew J. 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It is violence punctuated by committee meetings.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-will/football-combines-two-of-the-worst-things-in-american-life-it-is/) [George Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-will/) > [I produced a play in New York that got nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award for Best American Play.The play is called Stalking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-richman/i-produced-a-play-in-new-york-that-got-nominated-for-an-outer-critics/) [Adam Richman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-richman/) > [The final test of Afro-American studies will be the extent to which they rid the minds of whites and blacks alike of false learning,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-saunders-redding/the-final-test-of-afro-american-studies-will-be-the-extent-to-which/) [Jay Saunders Redding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-saunders-redding/) > [In the decade of the 1980s, a massive and comprehensive study of religion in American life was undertaken by the Gallup organization. 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Burger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-e-burger/) [Browse all 344 American life quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-life/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The strongest argument for the un-materialistic character of American life is the fact that we tolerate conditions that are, from a materialistic point of view, intolerable. ... No nation with any sense of material well-being would endure the food we eat, the cramped apartments we live in, the noise, the traffic, the crowded subways and buses. 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