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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
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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

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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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The worst cynicism: a belief in luck.
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. . . 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.
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