Joyce Carol Oates Quotes

I consider tragedy the highest form of art.
Joyce Carol Oates

Art, Tragedy, Consider

I could never take the idea of religion very seriously.
Joyce Carol Oates

Religion, Idea, Seriously

I have read on a Kindle. But the Kindle we had only worked for about eight months then it stopped working. You don't have to get books repaired.
Joyce Carol Oates

Working, Read, Books

I probably spend 90% of my time revising what I've written.
Joyce Carol Oates

Time, Written, Spend

I really love to set things in places that are real to me.
Joyce Carol Oates

Love, Real, Places

I think all art comes out of conflict. When I write I am always looking for the dramatic kernel of an event, the junctures of people's lives when they go in one direction, not another.
Joyce Carol Oates

Art, Another, Write

I was brought up to be sympathetic toward others.
Joyce Carol Oates

Others, Toward, Brought

I was writing novels in high school and apprenticed myself in a way both to Faulkner and to Hemingway.
Joyce Carol Oates

School, Writing, High

If a book I've committed myself to review turns out to be 'disappointing' I make an effort to present it objectively to the reader, including a good number of excerpts from the text, so that the reader might form his or her own opinion independent of my own.
Joyce Carol Oates

Good, Book, Opinion

If food is poetry, is not poetry also food?
Joyce Carol Oates

If I'm writing, I'll say something metaphorical or approximate, whereas scientists are very precise.
Joyce Carol Oates

Writing, Scientists, Precise

If my favorite, most comfortable place is by our fireplace in cold weather, expedient places are on an airplane, in a waiting room or even waiting in line; frequently these days, while on the phone having been 'put on hold.'
Joyce Carol Oates

Waiting, Put, Place

It is not her body that he wants but it is only through her body that he can take possession of another human being, so he must labor upon her body, he must enter her body, to make his claim.
Joyce Carol Oates

Human, Through, Another

It seems disingenuous to ask a writer why she, or he, is writing about a violent subject when the world and history are filled with violence.
Joyce Carol Oates

History, Writing, Why

Like most people, I can be very easily hurt.
Joyce Carol Oates

Love commingled with hate is more powerful than love. Or hate.
Joyce Carol Oates

Love, Hate, Powerful

Love is an indescribable sensation - perhaps a conviction, a sense of certitude.
Joyce Carol Oates

Love, Sense, Perhaps

No, the thing is, we all love storytelling, and as a writer you get to tell stories all the time.
Joyce Carol Oates

Love, Time, Tell

Obviously the imagination is fueled by emotions beyond the control of the conscious mind.
Joyce Carol Oates

Mind, Control, Emotions

Our enemy is by tradition our savior, in preventing us from superficiality.
Joyce Carol Oates

Enemy, Tradition, Savior

Probably nothing serious or worthwhile can be accomplished without one's willingness to be alone for sustained periods of time, which is not to say that one must live alone, obsessively.
Joyce Carol Oates

Time, Alone, Live

Productivity is a relative matter. And it's really insignificant: What is ultimately important is a writer's strongest books.
Joyce Carol Oates

Important, Matter, Books

Sometimes I read reviews, and without exception I will read critical essays that are sent to me. The critical essays are interesting on their own terms.
Joyce Carol Oates

Sometimes, Read, Critical

The books I read I do enjoy, very much; otherwise I wouldn't read them. Most of them are for review, for the New York Review of Books, and substantial.
Joyce Carol Oates

Enjoy, Read, Books

The cleaning is something I use as a reward if I get some work done. I go into a very happy state of mind when I'm vacuuming.
Joyce Carol Oates

Work, Happy, Mind

Share with your Friends

Everyone likes a good quote - don't forget to share.

Biography

Nationality: American

Born: June 16, 1938

Links

Find on Amazon: Joyce Carol Oates

Cite this Page: Citation

Popular Topics

Friendship Quotes

Motivational Quotes

Inspirational Quotes

Related Authors

Ernest Hemingway
Richard Bach
Chuck Palahniuk
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Gore Vidal
Amelia Barr
Isaac Bashevis Singer
H. P. Lovecraft
More

Get Social with BrainyQuote

BrainyQuote Desktop

BrainyQuote Mobile

Site

Quote of the Day

Social

BQ on Pinterest

Syndication

Funny Quote Feed

Love Quote Feed

Nature Quote Feed

About Us