Mary McCarthy Quotes

When old people speak it is not because of the sweetness of words in our mouths; it is because we see something which you do not see.

Wise is the man who does not disdain any character and instead, examining him with a searching look, plumbs him to the very main-springs of his being.

Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers.

Anything becomes interesting if you look at it long enough.

The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.

There are three classes of people: those who see, those who see when they are shown, those who do not see.

The fool wonders, the wise man asks.

You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions.

Wisdom sails with wind and time.

You can observe a lot by watching.

The wise man reads both books and life itself.

I think I have a very detailed sense of observation. I am interested in the details of people's lives and what information these details give.

Observation is an old man's memory.

Beckett had an unerring light on things, which I much appreciated.

It takes little talent to see what lies under one's nose, a good deal to know in what direction to point that organ.

I'm young but I'm not stupid.

Though I am fascinated by knowledge, I am even more fascinated by wisdom.

Truth is a demure lady, much too ladylike to knock you on your head and drag you to her cave. She is there, but people must want her, and seek her out.

We have a hunger of the mind which asks for knowledge of all around us, and the more we gain, the more is our desire; the more we see, the more we are capable of seeing.

You can't just trust to luck; you have to really listen to what that character is telling you.

The value of experience is not in seeing much, but in seeing wisely.

I'm just trying to understand what's around me as much as anyone else is, really. To draw a bead on a moving target.

Wisdom is not attained by years, but by ability.

To look is one thing, to see is another thing; to see is very difficult, normally; to look is to try to see. I have looked and I hope I have seen.

Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers.