You don’t have to make yourself OK for a good mother; a good mother makes herself OK for you.
“They were a ragtag bunch, their stomachs swelling against their ugly uniforms, their hair tied up in topknots, their faces pink from heat and exertion. They’d been assaulted, abandoned, discarded, left in the lurch. They’d been branded, insulted and punished. They were sluts, tramps, whores, fallen women. Their babies would be taken from them without consideration or permission. And still they sang.”
― The Paper Bracelet
― The Paper Bracelet
“Men can’t help themselves, so the burden falls on women to keep society safe and close to God.”
― The Paper Bracelet
― The Paper Bracelet
“Us nursing assistants, we’re the guardians of the temples of past loves. But that doesn’t show on our pay slips.”
― Forgotten on Sunday
― Forgotten on Sunday
“Thinking of such things like they’d happened years ago already and not just a few weeks back. For once life begins to accelerate it goes faster and faster.”
― We Were the Mulvaneys
― We Were the Mulvaneys
“Everyone tells me not to shout when I get to shouting stage, but I beg to differ, because asking politely has got me nowhere and so now I have to resort to shouting to get things done. You think I like shouting? Because I don’t, I don’t like shouting!’ she shouted.”
― Very Very Lucky
― Very Very Lucky
Joyce Carol Oates
— 214 members
— last activity Apr 28, 2026 08:25AM
This is a group for anyone who would like to read and discuss any of Joyce Carol Oates' many wonderful short stories, novels and plays. ...more
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