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
I'm drawn to failure. I feel like I'm contending with it constantly in my own life.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects the idea that failure is a persistent challenge in life that can motivate personal growth.
Joyce Carol Oates expresses her ongoing battle with failure, suggesting that it is an inescapable part of the human experience. This constant contention with failure can serve as a driving force, pushing individuals to confront their shortcomings and ultimately strive for improvement and resilience in their lives.
Themes
FailureMotivationGrowthResilienceChallenge
In practice
Example use cases
During a motivational speech about overcoming obstacles, this quote could be highlighted to inspire others.
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
Similar quotes
No matter how many mistakes you make or how slow you progress, you are still way ahead of everyone who isn't trying.
Tony RobbinsRead
Anything you put your mind to and add your imagination into can make your life a lot better and a lot more fun.
Taylor SwiftRead
Everybody says I can't act. They said the same thing about Elizabeth Taylor. And they were wrong. She was great in A Place in the Sun. I'll never get the right part, anything I really want. My looks are against me. They're too specific.
Marilyn MonroeRead
Everyone who's ever taken a shower has an idea. It's the person who gets out of the shower, dries off and does something about it who makes a difference.
Nolan BushnellRead
I've written about 2,000 short stories; I've only published 300 and I feel I'm still learning. Any man who keeps working is not a failure. He may not be a great writer, but if he applies the old fashioned virtues of hard, constant labor, he'll eventually make some kind of career for himself as a writer. Ray Bradbury, 1967 interview (Doing the Math - that means for every story he sold, he wrote six "un-publishable" ones. Keep typing!)
Ray BradburyRead
Somebody may beat me, but they are going to have to bleed to do it.
Steve PrefontaineRead