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Europeans used to say Americans were puritanical. Then they discovered that we were not puritans. So now they say that we are obsessed with sex.

— Mary McCarthy

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Source and credibility

Wikiquote does not flag this quote as disputed or misattributed.

Source: As quoted in "Lady with a Switchblade" in LIFE magazine (20 September 1963)
Source quality: Secondhand citation Quoted from another book or article rather than from the original.

More by Mary McCarthy

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

The Group (1963)

We are a nation of twenty million bathrooms, with a humanist in every tub.

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

Life for the European is a career; for the American, it is a hazard.

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

Every word she writes is a lie, including and and the.

Comment about Lillian Hellman in a televised interview (1979)

Every age has a keyhole to which its eye is pasted.

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

You never learn a language unless you use it.

Cannibals and Missionaries (1979)

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.

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

If you want to be your own master, his father used to say, always be surprised by evil; never anticipate it.

Birds of America (1971)

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More quotes by Mary McCarthy

I am putting real plums into an imaginary cake.

People with bad consciences always fear the judgment of children.

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

Nobody in this land, certainly no Christian, can accept hating on a full-time basis; it is apt to reflect back on the hater.

How I Grew (1987)

I combine concrete cynicism with a sort of vague optimism.

She decided she wanted a cool, starchy independent life, with ruffles of humor like window curtains.

The Group (1963)

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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.