“For me, in fact, the mark of the historic is the nonchalance with which it picks up an individual and deposits him in a trend, like a house playfully moved in a tornado.”

— Mary McCarthy

"My Confession", pp. 76–77
On the Contrary: Articles of Belief 1946–1961 (1961)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "For me, in fact, the mark of the historic is the nonchalance with which it picks up an individual and deposits him in a…" by Mary McCarthy?

Mary McCarthy photo

Mary McCarthy79

American writer 1912–1989

Related quotes

“Jack came whirling in like a little gay tornado with Duchess following him.”

Kristin Cast book Untamed

Source: Untamed

“You just pick your head up and stare at something beautiful like the sky,
or the ocean and you move the hell on.”

James Patterson book Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas

Source: Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas

“And it is that word 'hummy,' my darlings, that marks the first place in The House at Pooh Corner at which Tonstant Weader fwowed up.”

Dorothy Parker (1893–1967) American poet, short story writer, critic and satirist

Her "Constant Reader" book review of The House at Pooh Corner by A. A. Milne, in The New Yorker (20 October 1928) http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1928/10/20/reading-and-writing-27

“He wanted me to beat him up!
It was an open invitation!
Late at night he picked me up —
an act of open provocation!”

Attila the Stockbroker (1957) punk poet, folk punk musician and songwriter

"Contributory Negligence", from Cautionary Tales for Dead Commuters (1985)

“Jack Layton believed so much in the power of democracy and of this Parliament. I invite all honourable members in this House to join me in picking up this torch and making this an institution in which Canadians can be proud”

Nycole Turmel (1942) Canadian politician

“It [Ashfair House] was an old fashioned house—the sort of house in fact, as Strange expressed it, which a lady in a novel might like to be persecuted in.”

Susanna Clarke book Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

Source: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

“Remember when you picked me up like a frisbee and tossed me across you yard?”

Alyson Nöel book Dark Flame

Source: Dark Flame

“Privately run jails are a mark of American "reinvented government" that has been picked up by neoconservatives in Canada.”

Jane Jacobs book Dark Age Ahead

Notes And Comments, p. 189
Dark Age Ahead (2004)

“She bent over me again. Blood began to move around in me, like a prospective tenant looking over a house.”

Raymond Chandler book The Big Sleep

Source: The Big Sleep (1939), Chapter 28, Phillip Marlowe watching Mona "Silver-Wig" Mars

“Just like a photograph,
I pick you up.
Just like a station on the radio,
I pick you up.”

Kate Bush (1958) British recording artist; singer, songwriter, musician and record producer

Song lyrics, The Sensual World (1989)

Related topics