The Journal of Joyce Carol Oates Quotes

“Keeing busy" is the remedy for all the ills in America. It's also the means by which the creative impulse is destroyed.”
― Joyce Carol Oates, The Journal of Joyce Carol Oates: 1973-1982

“The ideal art, the noblest of art: working with the complexities of life, refusing to simplify, to "overcome" doubt.”
― Joyce Carol Oates, The Journal of Joyce Carol Oates: 1973-1982

“Fiction that adds up, that suggests a "logical consistency," or an explanation of some kind, is surely second-rate fiction; for the truth of life is its mystery.”
― Joyce Carol Oates, The Journal of Joyce Carol Oates: 1973-1982

“Jammed together at lunch. Not a drinker, nevertheless I experience a distinct alteration of consciousness in the presence of others—socially, but even in the classroom or seminar—a heightening, livening, intensifying sensation—a kind of euphoria. (Would the drinkers attain the same heights, without drinking? But they never make the experiment.) The process is deceptive: one feels oneself fulfilled, with these shreds and bits of other people, but at the same time one is being drained.”
― Joyce Carol Oates, The Journal of Joyce Carol Oates

“…To seek out, to study, to immerse oneself in, surround oneself with, beauty; to be conscious of one’s dependence upon those who create it or, like the performing musician, re-create it. Very little matters apart from this.”
― Joyce Carol Oates, The Journal of Joyce Carol Oates: 1973-1982

“Keeping busy” is the remedy for all ills in America. It’s also the means by which the creative impulse is destroyed.”
― Joyce Carol Oates, The Journal of Joyce Carol Oates