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
Productivity is a relative matter. And it's really insignificant: What is ultimately important is a writer's strongest books.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Productivity should be measured by the quality of work rather than the quantity of output.
In this quote, Joyce Carol Oates emphasizes that the measure of a writer's success is not found in the sheer number of works produced, but rather in the impact and strength of their best books. This perspective invites writers to focus on crafting meaningful and resonant pieces rather than being trapped in the hustle of constant output, suggesting that great literature stands the test of time regardless of how often it is created.
Themes
ProductivityQualityWritingBooksImpact
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can inspire a writing workshop to focus on refining drafts rather than just finishing pieces.
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
Prosperity is a great teacher; adversity is a greater. Possession pampers the mind; privation trains and strengthens it.
William HazlittRead
The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool.
Richard P. FeynmanRead
We do not have to be ashamed of what we are. As sentient beings we have wonderful backgrounds. These backgrounds may not be particularly enlightened or peaceful or intelligent. Nevertheless, we have soil good enough to cultivate; we can plant anything in it.
Chogyam TrungpaRead
All it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy. That's how far the world is from where I am. Just one bad day.
Alan MooreRead
Bush has not read enough books to have a developed moral sense. The fewer books you read, the easier it is to become fundamental. In some ways my antiwar stand here is also a stand on anti-literacy. Someone should get G.W. into a reading program, get him to join a book club. Have him read Hamlet, King Lear.
Sherman AlexieRead
If you must make a mistake, make a new one each time.
Dale CarnegieRead