Of the widow's countless death-duties there is really just one that matters: on the first anniversary of her husband's death the widow should think I kept myself alive.
Joyce Carol OatesRead
There was a Greek philosopher who taught that, of all things, not to have been born is the sweetest state. But I believe sleep is the sweetest state. You're dead, yet alive. There's no sensation so exquisite.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote contrasts the Greek philosopher's view on non-existence with the author's appreciation for the dreamlike state of sleep.
Joyce Carol Oates reflects on the nature of existence and non-existence. While a Greek philosopher teaches that not being born is the ideal, Oates posits that sleep, which shares the quality of detachment from reality, offers a sweet escape from the burdens of life. She finds beauty in sleep, describing it as a state where one is neither fully alive nor dead, allowing for a blissful experience that transcends ordinary sensations.
Themes
ExistenceSleepDeathPhilosophySensations
In practice
Example use cases
In a literature class discussing existential themes, this quote can illustrate different perceptions of existence.
More from Joyce Carol Oates
All quotes βI never really knew I wanted to 'be' a writer, but I was always writing from a very young age. It became more conscious as an ideal when I was in my twenties.
Joyce Carol OatesRead
I'm drawn to write about upstate New York in the way in which a dreamer might have recurring dreams. My childhood and girlhood were spent in upstate New York, in the country north of Buffalo and West of Rochester. So this part of New York state is very familiar to me and, with its economic difficulties, has become emblematic of much of American life.
Joyce Carol OatesRead
My writing is often a way of 'bearing witness' for others who lack the education and the opportunity to tell their own stories, so I hope that my writing won't be affected too much by my personal life.
Joyce Carol OatesRead
The worst cynicism: a belief in luck.
Joyce Carol OatesRead
. . . there is a wish in the heart of mankind to be distracted and confused. Truth is but one attraction, and not always the most powerful.
Joyce Carol OatesRead
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