She was a great heroine to many young women of my age. She was a heroine for her independence and her courage in speaking out in defence of lost causes and for her ability to combine great personal glamour with a ferocious intelligence.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- McCarthy admired a woman for her independence, courage in defending lost causes, and ability to blend glamour with intelligence.
- In plain terms
- She admired a woman who was independent, brave, smart, and glamorous.
- What can you take from it?
- Combine intelligence with courage and style.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Who inspires you through courage and style?
- What balance do you strike between image and intellect?
Another view
Glamour can sometimes overshadow substance.
More from Mary McCarthy
The cultural heroine of my generation... before feminist writing got bogged down in victimisation.
Permalink to quote #41 Intellectual responses are known as opinions and Mary had them and had them. Still she was so little of an ideologue as to be sometimes unsettling in her refus…
Permalink to quote #40 Mary McCarthy was a rara avis, a rare bird: a truly sexy intellectual who was nonetheless more interested in truth than in being intellectually sexy or fashion…
Permalink to quote #44
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