Phyllis McGinley
Phyllis McGinley
Phyllis McGinleywas a Pulitzer Prizewinning American author of children's books and poetry. Her poetry was in the style of light verse, specializing in humor, satiric tone and the positive aspects of suburban life...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth21 March 1905
CountryUnited States of America
Phyllis McGinley quotes about
austen becomes beyond college education exactly exist girl graduates jane lore meant mind noble proficient saint studies system theresa treated truly until utopia vast
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.
aunt shy littles
Aunts are discreet, a little shy / By instinct. They forbear to pry ...
new-year years drinking-toast
Stir the eggnog, lift the toddy, Happy New Year everybody.
hobbies doldrums
A hobby a day keeps the doldrums away.
track joy catholic
I have read that during the process of canonization the Catholic Church demands proof of joy in the candidate, and although I have not been able to track down chapter and verse I like the suggestion that dourness is not a sacred attribute.
avant-garde hard
It's hard / Keeping up with the avant-garde.
curly-hair hair spares
Ladies with curly hair / Have time to spare.
sick people immature
People are no longer sinful, they are only immature or underprivileged or frightened or, more particularly, sick.
mirrors hair trying
Sisters are always drying their hair. Locked into rooms, alone, they pose at the mirror, shoulders bare, trying this way and that their hair, or fly importunate down the stair to answer the telephone.
routine rebel interruptions
It is the leisured, I have noticed, who rebel the most at an interruption of routine.
optimism trends troops
O, merry is the Optimist, With the troops of courage leaguing. But a dour trend In any friend Is somehow less fatiguing.
thieves aging
Time is the thief you cannot banish.
now-and-then trash reader
A bit of trash now and then is good for the severest reader. It provides the necessary roughage in the literary diet.
satisfaction household seeing
There is satisfaction in seeing one's household prosper; in being both bountiful and provident.