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
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the complexity of life and how artists perceive the world differently from politicians.
Joyce Carol Oates emphasizes that both life and people are not straightforward; they encompass a multitude of nuances and complexities. Writers, as artists, possess a unique perspective that diverges from that of political figures, who often present a simplified view of realities to the public. This differentiation suggests that art captures the multifaceted essence of human experience, while politics may reduce it to binary choices.
Themes
ComplexityArtPerspectiveWriterPolitician
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion on the role of artists in society during a webinar.
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
I am no longer afraid of becoming lost, because the journey back always reveals something new, and that is ultimately good for the artist.
Billy JoelRead
Stories only happen to those who are able to tell them.
Paul AusterRead
When I write, what I long for is not more realism or fiction but more courage. That's what I always find myself short on and what I have to struggle to achieve in order that the work might live.
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I write from real life. I am an unrepentant eavesdropper and a collector of stories. I record bits of overheard dialogue.
Chimamanda Ngozi AdichieRead
And perhaps, those of us in the industry who are still foolishly clinging to the idea that female films, with women at the center are niche experience, they are not. Audiences want to see them and, in fact, they earn money. The world is round, people.
Cate BlanchettRead
It seems to me that 'women's writing' by nature would not seek equivalence in the male world. It would be a writing that sought to express a distinction, not deny it.
Rachel CuskRead