On the elusive gift of blending austerity of craft with elasticity of allure. Joyce Carol Oates More Quotes by Joyce Carol Oates More Quotes From Joyce Carol Oates Life and people are complex. A writer as an artist doesn't have the personality of a politician. We don't see the world that simply. Joyce Carol Oates artistpersonalitypeople Fiction that adds up, that suggests a "logical consistency," or an explanation of some kind, is surely second-rate fiction; for the truth of life is its mystery. Joyce Carol Oates consistencyaddfiction Writers and artists never pay attention to advice given by their elders, quite rightly. The only worthwhile advice is the most general: Keep trying, don't give up, don't be discouraged, don't pay attention to detractors. Everyone knows this. Joyce Carol Oates dont-give-upgiving-upartist Art is about freedom of expression, and should not be molded to fit any propaganda or lofty ideal. Joyce Carol Oates fitexpressionart All that matters in life is forging deep ties of love and family and friends. Writing and reading come later. Joyce Carol Oates ties-of-lovereadingwriting If you are a writer you locate yourself behind a wall of silence and no matter what you are doing, driving a car or walking or doing housework you can still be writing, because you have that space. Joyce Carol Oates wallspacewriting I had forgotten that time wasn't fixed like concrete but in fact was fluid as sand, or water. I had forgotten that even misery can end. Joyce Carol Oates miserywaterfacts I believe that the creative impulse is natural in all human beings, and that it is particularly powerful in children unless it is suppressed. Consequently, one is behaving normally and instinctively and healthily when one is creating - literature, art, music, or whatever. An excellent cook is also creative! I am disturbed that a natural human inclination [creative work] should, by some Freudian turn of phrase, be considered compulsive - perhaps even pathological. To me this is a complete misreading of the human enterprise. One should also enjoy one's work, and look forward to it daily. Joyce Carol Oates powerfulchildrenart Homo sapiens is the species that invents symbols in which to invest passion and authority, then forgets that symbols are inventions. Joyce Carol Oates atheismpassionhumility The heavenly light you admire is fossil-light, it's the unfathomably distant past you gaze into, stars long extinct Joyce Carol Oates starslightpast Technique holds a reader from sentence to sentence, but only content will stay in his mind. Joyce Carol Oates techniquereadermind All actors are whores. They want only one thing: to seduce you. Joyce Carol Oates seducingactorswant Running! If there's any activity happier, more exhilarating, more nourishing to the imagination, I can't think what it might be. In running the mind flies with the body; the mysterious efflorescence of language seems to pulse in the brain, in rhythm with our feet and the swinging of our arms. Joyce Carol Oates feetrunningthinking We inhabit ourselves without valuing ourselves, unable to see that here, now, this very moment is sacred; but once it’s gone – its value is incontestable. Joyce Carol Oates sacredmomentsgone My belief is that art should not be comforting; for comfort, we have mass entertainment and one another. Art should provoke, disturb, arouse our emotions, expand our sympathies in directions we may not anticipate and may not even wish. Joyce Carol Oates wishcomfortingart As a farm girl, even when I was quite young, I had my 'farm chores' - but I had time also to be alone, to explore the fields, woods and creek side. And to read. Joyce Carol Oates woodsgirlfields A daydreamer is prepared for most things. Joyce Carol Oates prepared Boxing is a celebration of the lost religion of masculinity all the more trenchant for its being lost. Joyce Carol Oates celebrationboxingreligion And I’m drawn to failure. I often write about it, and I’m sympathetic with it, I think, because I feel I’m contending with it constantly in my own life. Joyce Carol Oates contendingmy-ownfeels You wake up one morning, those years are gone. There's a comfort in this fact perhaps. I want to think that there must be comfort in all facts we can't alter. Joyce Carol Oates morningyearsthinking
