Mary McCarthy

We all live in suspense, from day to day, from hour to hour; in other words, we are the
hero of our own story.
– Mary McCarthy

Life is a system of recurrent pairs, the poison and the antidote being eternally packaged
together by some considerate heavenly druggist.
– Mary McCarthy

In politics, it seems, retreat is honourable if dictated by military considerations and
shameful if even suggested for ethical reasons.
– Mary McCarthy

In violence we forget who we are.
– Mary McCarthy

People with bad consciences always fear the judgement of children.
– Mary McCarthy

The happy ending is our national belief.
– Mary McCarthy

Bureaucracy, the rule of no one, has become the modern form of despotism.
– Mary McCarthy

If someone tells you he is going to make “a realistic decision,” you immediately understand
that he is going to do something bad.
– Mary McCarthy

In science, all facts no matter how trivial, enjoy democratic equality.
– Mary McCarthy

You can date the evolving life of a mind, like the age of a tree, by the rings of friendship
formed by the expanding central trunk.
– Mary McCarthy

Labor is work that leaves no trace behind it when it is finished, or if it does, as in the case
of the tilled field, this product of human activity requires still more labor, incessant, tireless
labor, to maintain its identity as a work of man.
– Mary McCarthy