Joyce Carol Oates

"The worst thing: to give yourself away in exchange for not enough love."

"In love there are two things - bodies and words."

"We all have numerous identities that shift with circumstances. The writing self is likely to be a highly private, conjured sort of being — you would not find it in a grocery store."

"Homo sapiens is the species that invents symbols in which to invest passion and authority, then forgets that symbols are inventions."

"When people say there is too much violence in , what they are saying is there is too much reality in life."

"Any kind of creative activity is likely to be stressful. The more anxiety, the more you feel that you are headed in the right direction. Easiness, relaxation, comfort — these are not conditions that u…"

"Prose — it might be speculated — is discourse; poetry ellipsis. Prose is spoken aloud; poetry overheard. The one is presumably articulate and social, a shared language, the voice of "communication"; t…"

"The writer is a “somewhat mystical” — or do I mean “mythical”? — person."