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Quote by Mary McCarthy

“Venice, as a city, was a foundling, floating upon the waters like Moses in his basket among the bulrushes.”

Work

This book offers a detailed exploration of Venice, capturing its unique culture, architecture, and atmosphere through a series of observations and reflections. more

Author

Mary McCarthy

Mary McCarthy was a prominent American author born on June 21, 1912, and passed away on October 25, 1989. Known for her incisive social criticism and nuanced portrayal of human nature, she is considered one of the most influential figures in 20th-century American literature. more

“The breakdown of our language, evident in the misuse, i.e., the misunderstanding of nouns and adjectives, is most grave, though perhaps not so conspicuous, in the handling of prepositions, those modest little connectives that hold the parts of a phrase or a sentence together. They are the joints of any language, what make it, literally, articulate.”

Littles Together Language Sentences Graves Phrases Modest Evident Misunderstanding Joints Breakdown Adjectives Misuse Nouns Prepositions

Book:Occasional prose

Source: Occasional prose

“Our language, once homely and colloquial, seeks to aggrandize our meanest activities with polysyllabic terms or it retreats from frankness into a stammering verbosity.”

Language Term Activity Retreat Homely Frankness Stammering

Book:Occasional prose

Source: Occasional prose

“Laughter is the great antidote for self-pity, maybe a specific for the malady, yet probably it does tend to dry one's feelings out a little, as if by exposing them to a vigorous wind.”

Ifs Littles Doe Self Feelings Wind Laughter Pity Dry Antidote Vigorous Self Pity Exposing Malady

Author:Mary McCarthy

“As subjects, we all live in suspense, from day to day, from hour to hour; in other words, we are the hero of our own story. We cannot believe that it is finished, that we are 'finished,' even though we may say so; we expect another chapter, another installment, tomorrow or next week.”