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
Homo sapiens is the species that invents symbols in which to invest passion and authority, then forgets that symbols are inventions.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Humans create symbols to express feelings and power, but often forget they are merely constructs of our own making.
This quote by Joyce Carol Oates highlights the tendency of humans to create and ascribe deep meaning and authority to symbols, whether they be words, art, or other forms of representation. It suggests that while these symbols can hold significant value in expressing our thoughts and emotions, we often overlook their artificial nature, treating them as if they possess intrinsic importance rather than understanding them as products of human invention and imagination.
Themes
SymbolsInventionAuthorityPassionHuman Nature
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the impact of language on society, one might cite this quote to illustrate how words carry power.
More from Joyce Carol Oates
All quotes →I 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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