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Idealists, I know, are dangerous, but the claim of the ideal (Ibsen) has to be felt or else.... Or else the world, our deteriorating world, will continue on its course by sheer inertia. Inertia is taking over, right here; you can sense it.

— Mary McCarthy Cannibals and Missionaries (1979)

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Wikiquote does not flag this quote as disputed or misattributed.

Source: From Sophie Weil's diary in "Envoi"
Work: Cannibals and Missionaries, 1979
Source quality: Source identified Names the work or year, but without an exact location.

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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.