Phyllis McGinley Quotes

A collection of quotes by Phyllis McGinley.

Phyllis McGinley (1905-1978) was an American writer known for her wit and humor. Born on March 21, 1905, in Ontario, Oregon, McGinley graduated from the University of Southern California in 1927. She initially pursued a career in advertising before turning her attention to writing poetry and prose.

McGinley gained recognition primarily through her light-hearted verses and satirical observations on middle-class suburban life and gender roles. Her works often captured the essence of post-war America, representing the traditional values and concerns of the era. McGinley's poems were published in major magazines such as The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, and Ladies' Home Journal. Her popularity soared in the 1950s and 1960s, earning her numerous awards for her witty and accessible writing style.

In 1961, McGinley became the first woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for her collection "Times Three: Selected Verse from Three Decades." This achievement further solidified her reputation as a talented and influential poet. McGinley continued to produce numerous books, including children's poetry collections, essays, and works of non-fiction.

Phyllis McGinley's writing resonated with readers for its keen observation, gentle humor, and relatability. Her ability to capture the essence of everyday experiences and emotions allowed her to maintain a lasting impact on American literature. Phyllis McGinley passed away on February 22, 1978, leaving behind a legacy of delightful and insightful poetry.

Compromise, if not the spice of life, is its solidity. It is

Compromise, if not the spice of life, is its solidity. It is what makes nations great and marriages happy

Phyllis McGinley

Wisdom Life Marriage Knowledge Compromise Ignorance

Getting along with men isn't what's truly important. The vit

Getting along with men isn't what's truly important. The vital knowledge is how to get along with a man, one man.

Phyllis McGinley

Women are the fulfilled sex. Through our children we are abl

Women are the fulfilled sex. Through our children we are able to produce our own immortality, so we lack that divine restlessness which sends men charging off in pursuit of fortune or fame or an imagined Utopia. That is why we number so few geniuses among us. The wholesome oyster wears no pearl, the healthy whale no ambergris, and as long as we can keep on adding to the race, we harbor a sort of health within ourselves.

Phyllis McGinley

Our bodies are shaped to bear children, and our lives are a

Our bodies are shaped to bear children, and our lives are a working out of the processes of creation. All our ambitions and intelligence are beside that great elemental point.

Phyllis McGinley

In Australia, not reading poetry is the national pastime.

In Australia, not reading poetry is the national pastime.

Phyllis McGinley

Sin has always been an ugly word, but it has been made so in

Sin has always been an ugly word, but it has been made so in a new sense over the last half-century. It has been made not only ugly but pass?. People are no longer sinful, they are only immature or underprivileged or frightened or, more particularly, sick.

Phyllis McGinley

Sticks and stones are hard on bones aimed with angry art. Wo

Sticks and stones are hard on bones aimed with angry art. Words can sting like anything but silence breaks the heart.

Phyllis McGinley

Words can sting like anything, but silence breaks the heart.

Words can sting like anything, but silence breaks the heart.

Phyllis McGinley

Who could deny that privacy is a jewel? It has always been t

Who could deny that privacy is a jewel? It has always been the mark of privilege, the distinguishing feature of a truly urbane culture. Out of the cave, the tribal teepee, the pueblo, the community fortress, man emerged to build himself a house of his own with a shelter in it for himself and his diversions. Every age has seen it so. The poor might have to huddle together in cities for need's sake, and the frontiersman cling to his neighbors for the sake of protection. But in each civilization, as it advanced, those who could afford it chose the luxury of a withdrawing-place.

Phyllis McGinley

I do not know who first invented the myth of sexual equality

I do not know who first invented the myth of sexual equality. But it is a myth willfully fostered and nourished by certain semi-scientists and other fiction writers. And it has done more, I suspect, to unsettle marital happiness than any other false doctrine of this myth-ridden age.

Phyllis McGinley

The Enemy, who wears her mother's usual face and confidentia

The Enemy, who wears her mother's usual face and confidential tone, has access; doubtless stares into her writing case and listens on the phone.

Phyllis McGinley

Marriage was all a woman's idea and for man's acceptance of

Marriage was all a woman's idea and for man's acceptance of the pretty yoke, it becomes us to be grateful.

Phyllis McGinley

Oh, high is the price of parenthood, and daughters may cost

Oh, high is the price of parenthood, and daughters may cost you double. You dare not forget, as you thought you could, that youth is a plague and a trouble.

Phyllis McGinley

A lady is smarter than a gentleman, maybe, she can sew a fin

A lady is smarter than a gentleman, maybe, she can sew a fine seam, she can have a baby, she can use her intuition instead of her brain, but she can't fold a paper in a crowded train.

Phyllis McGinley

Sometimes I have a notion that what might improve the situat

Sometimes I have a notion that what might improve the situation is to have women take over the occupations of government and trade and to give men their freedom. Let them do what they are best at. While we scrawl interoffice memos and direct national or extranational affairs, men could spend all their time inventing wheels, peering at stars, composing poems, carving statues, exploring continents -- discovering, reforming, or crying out in a sacramental wilderness. Efficiency would probably increase, and no one would have to worry so much about the Gaza Strip or an election.

Phyllis McGinley

Say what you will, making marriage work is a woman's busines

Say what you will, making marriage work is a woman's business. The institution was invented to do her homage; it was contrived for her protection. Unless she accepts it as such --as a beautiful, bountiful, but quite unequal association --the going will be hard indeed.

Phyllis McGinley

The system -- the American one, at least -- is a vast and no

The system -- the American one, at least -- is a vast and noble experiment. It has been polestar and exemplar for other nations. But from kindergarten until she graduates from college the girl is treated in it exactly like her brothers. She studies the same subjects, becomes proficient at the same sports. Oh, it is a magnificent lore she learns, education for the mind beyond anything Jane Austen or Saint Theresa or even Mrs. Pankhurst ever dreamed. It is truly Utopian. But Utopia was never meant to exist on this disheveled planet.

Phyllis McGinley

Gossip isn't scandal and it's not merely malicious. It's cha

Gossip isn't scandal and it's not merely malicious. It's chatter about the human race by lovers of the same. Gossip is the tool of the poet, the shop-talk of the scientist, and the consolation of the housewife, wit, tycoon and intellectual. It begins in the nursery and ends when speech is past.

Phyllis McGinley

Frigidity is largely nonsense. It is this generation's catch

Frigidity is largely nonsense. It is this generation's catchword, one only vaguely understood and constantly misused. Frigid women are few. There is a host of diffident and slow-ripening ones.

Phyllis McGinley

The thing to remember about fathers is, they're men. A girl

The thing to remember about fathers is, they're men. A girl has to keep it in mind: They are dragon-seekers, bent on improbable rescues. Scratch any father, you find someone chock-full of qualms and romantic terrors, believing change is a threat -- like your first shoes with heels on, like your first bicycle I it took such months to get.

Phyllis McGinley