WIST Quotations

McCarthy, Mary -- “American Realist Playwrights,” On the Contrary (1961)

Dave — Wed, 08 Jan 2020 17:49:31 +0000

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 (1912–1989) American author, critic, political activist
“American Realist Playwrights,” On the Contrary (1961)

McCarthy, Mary -- “American Realist Playwrights,” On the Contrary (1961)

Dave — Mon, 29 Jun 2020 22:24:41 +0000

A politician or political thinker who calls himself a political realist is usually boasting that he sees politics, so to speak, in the raw; he is generally a proclaimed cynic and pessimist who makes it his business to look behind words and fine speeches for the motive. This motive is always low.

Mary McCarthy (1912–1989) American author, critic, political activist
“American Realist Playwrights,” On the Contrary (1961)

McCarthy, Mary -- “The Vita Activa,” The New Yorker (1958-10)

Dave — Mon, 01 Jul 2024 16:46:45 +0000

Indeed, 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 (1912–1989) American author, critic, political activist
“The Vita Activa,” The New Yorker (1958-10)

A review of Hanna Arendt, The Human Condition (1958). Collected in On the Contrary: Articles of Belief, 1946–1961, Part 1 (1961).

McCarthy, Mary -- The Group (1962)

Dave — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 14:00:04 +0000

You mustn’t force sex to do the work of love, or love to do the work of sex.

Mary McCarthy (1912–1989) American author, critic, political activist
The Group (1962)