“ But was this funny? was this funny? was this funny? why was this funny? why was Sugar Kane funny? why were men dressed as women funny? why were men made up as women funny? why were men staggering in h… Joyce Carol Oates
“ Yet there was something gratifyingly real about being called a bitch, a whore, a blond tramp. Where so much was a dreamy haze, anything promising to be real was bracing. Joyce Carol Oates
“ We inhabit ourselves without valuing ourselves,unable to see that here, now,this very moment is sacred; Joyce Carol Oates
“ It may be that actual tears have stained the tile floors or soaked into the carpets of such places. It may be that these tears can never be removed. And everywhere the odor of melancholy, that is the… Joyce Carol Oates
“ It is required that we must be fiercely beloved by one individual in order to exist: for Sabbath, Haley was that individual. Joyce Carol Oates
“ He said no break is permanent. Like a bone that heals crooked, still it will heal. Joyce Carol Oates
“ For the first time driving that day I could feel the motion of the Earth. The Earth rushing through the emptiness of space. Spinning on its axis but they say you don't feel it, you can't experience it… Joyce Carol Oates
“ For it seemed (though why it seemed so, no one knew) that everything began on that night. And, once begun, it could not be stopped. Joyce Carol Oates
“ Because nothing between human beings is uncomplicated and there's no way to speak of human beings without simplifying and misrepresenting them. Joyce Carol Oates
“ And remember: you must not overwork your body, or your soul. You must not enslave yourself, as you would not enslave any other person. You must be the custodian of your self. Joyce Carol Oates
“ A library is a mausoleum: books of the dead. And so many. And so many secrets lost to him forever. Hadn't time for it all and if he couldn't do it all then there was no point in doing any of it. For s… Joyce Carol Oates
“ You never give such relationships a thought, To give a thought, to take a thought is a function of dissociation, distance. You can't exercise memory until you've removed yourself from memory's source. Joyce Carol Oates
