Not what the mind sees, but what the mind imagines the eye must see. Joyce Carol Oates More Quotes by Joyce Carol Oates More Quotes From Joyce Carol Oates If you explore beneath shyness or party chit-chat, you can sometimes turn a dull exchange into an intriguing one. I've found this to be particularly true in the case of professors or intellectuals, who are full of fascinating information, but need encouragement before they'll divulge it. Joyce Carol Oates women party encouragement Writing is a solitary occupation, and one of its hazards is loneliness. But an advantage of loneliness is privacy, autonomy and freedom. Joyce Carol Oates hazards loneliness writing Nothing is accidental in the universe - this is one of my Laws of Physics - except the entire universe itself, which is Pure Accident, pure divinity. Joyce Carol Oates divinity law science I would suggest the widow do things the husband used to do, so he seems to be there with you. You will feel like just going to bed. It's so wonderful, going to bed. Joyce Carol Oates widows bed husband The first sentence cant be written until the final sentence is written. Joyce Carol Oates finals writing firsts One of life's minor satisfactions is forgetting. Joyce Carol Oates minors satisfaction forget Sometimes I read reviews, and without exception I will read critical essays that are sent to me. The critical essays are interesting on their own terms. Joyce Carol Oates reviews sometimes interesting Writing! The activity for which the only adequate bribe is the possibility of suicide, one day. Joyce Carol Oates one-day suicide writing There is an hour, a minute - you will remember it forever - when you know instinctively on the basis of the most inconsequential evidence, that something is wrong. You don't know - can't know - that it is the first of a series of "wrongful" events that will culminate in the utter devastation of your life as you have known it. Joyce Carol Oates bereavement grief forever I learned you don't discover the evidence of any cause in its result. Joyce Carol Oates evidence results causes These are the moments for which we live. Joyce Carol Oates moments The worst cynicism: a belief in luck. Joyce Carol Oates luck belief work My life is a very interior and solitary life. I tend not to care that much about external things. Joyce Carol Oates solitary-life care life-is For memory is a moral action, a choice. You can choose to remember. You can choose not. Joyce Carol Oates remembers-you remember-you memories Each genre exerts a considerable spell, as a kind of "form" to be filled, as a Shakespearean sonnet is filled. Joyce Carol Oates genre form kind It is only through disruptions and confusion that we grow, jarred out of ourselves by the collision of someone else's private world with our own. Joyce Carol Oates confusion motivational inspirational A mouth of no distinction but well practiced, before I entered my teens, in irony. For what is irony but the repository of hurt? And what is hurt but the repository of hope? Joyce Carol Oates teens hurt mouths My parents inspired me by their example. They both grew up in the Depression, and both of them had to quit school when they were quite young to work, because there actually was no choice. So they've always impressed me with their resilience, their good spirits, their courage. I just remember them carrying on and just doing their lives. They really made a strong impression on me. Joyce Carol Oates parent strong school A man will reveal his true self, or so it seems, on the tennis court. Joyce Carol Oates tennis self men I'm very American in the sense of being an explorer. America is filled with people who are interested in exploring landscapes, either external or internal. A westward nation of explorers. Joyce Carol Oates landscape america people
