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The Crucifixion and other historical precedents notwithstanding, many of us still believe that outstanding goodness is a kind of armor, that virtue, seen plain and bare, gives pause to criminality. But perhaps it is the other way around.

— Mary McCarthy On the Contrary: Articles of Belief 1946–1961 (1961)

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Source: "Gandhi", p. 22. First published in Politics (Winter 1948)
Work: On the Contrary: Articles of Belief 1946–1961, 1961
Source quality: Precise citation Points to a specific work with a page, chapter, date or similar locator, so you can look it up.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Mary McCarthy (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.