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 MccarthyRead
To care for the quarrels of the past, to identify oneself passionately with a cause that became, politically speaking, a losing cause with the birth of the modern world, is to experience a kind of straining against reality, a rebellious nonconformity that, again, is rare in America, where children are instructed in the virtues of the system they live under, as though history had achieved a happy ending in American civics.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote critiques the tendency to cling to outdated causes and the challenges of nonconformity in a society that promotes complacency.
Mary McCarthy's quote reflects on the struggle of individuals who remain attached to causes that have been deemed failures in the face of modern realities. It highlights a sense of rebelliousness against a society that indoctrinates its youth to accept the status quo, suggesting that true understanding of history incorporates its complexities and contradictions rather than an oversimplified 'happy ending.'
Themes
PastQuarrelsNonconformityRealitySocietyHistory
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about social activism, this quote can be used to emphasize the importance of learning from history rather than ignoring it.
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All quotes →The exile is a singular, whereas refugees tend to be thought of in the mass ... What is implied in these nuances of social standing is the respect we pay to choice. The exile appears to have made a decision, while the refugee is the very image of helplessness.
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Every word she writes is a lie, including "and" and "the."
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Anti-Semitism is a horrible disease from which nobody is immune, and it has a kind of evil fascination that makes an enlightened person draw near the source of infection, supposedly in a scientific spirit, but really to sniff the vapors and dally with the possibility.
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If one means by style the voice, the irreducible and always recognizable and alive thing, then of course style is really everything.
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You mustn't force sex to do the work of love or love to do the work of sex.
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