Famous Joyce Carol Oates Quotations

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"Boxing has become America's tragic theater."
by Joyce Carol Oates
"How does the poet transform his banal thoughts (are not most thoughts banal?) into such stunning forms, into beauty?"
by Joyce Carol Oates
"If you explore beneath shyness or party chit-chat, you can sometimes turn a dull exchange into an intriguing one. I've found this to be particularly true in the case of professors or intellectuals, who are full of fascinating information, but need encouragement before they'll divulge it."
by Joyce Carol Oates
"In love there are things --- bodies and words."
by Joyce Carol Oates
"When people say there is too much violence in my books, what they are saying is there is too much reality in life."
by Joyce Carol Oates
"When you're 50 you start thinking about things you haven't thought about before. I used to think getting old was about vanity-but actually it's about losing people you love. Getting wrinkles is trivial."
by Joyce Carol Oates
"When you're 50 you start thinking about things you haven't thought about before. I used to think getting old was about vanity -- but actually it's about losing people you love. Getting wrinkles is trivial."
by Joyce Carol Oates
"The worst cynicism: a belief in luck."
by Joyce Carol Oates
"Nothing is accidental in the universe -- this is one of my Laws of Physics -- except the entire universe itself, which is Pure Accident, pure divinity."
by Joyce Carol Oates
"I can entertain the proposition that life is a metaphor for boxing—for one of those bouts that go on and on, round following round, jabs, mi..."
by Joyce Carol Oates


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