acting

America

American dream

beauty

betrayal

blood

boxing

childhood

compromise

daydreamer

death

dialect

editing

failure

fame

family

first draft

flying

food

future

imagination

language

lawyer

life

literature

loneliness

love

madness

moral courage

motherhood

New York City

novel

novel writing

past

poetry

prose

reading

reality

remembering

self-criticism

society

time

tragedy

writer

writing

nationality

American

occupation / innovator as

novelist

autobiographer

essayist

playwright

poet

professor

screenwriter

university teacher

children's writer

diarist

scientific organization

American Academy of Arts and Sciences

race / ethnicity

White American

religion

atheism

American Academy of Arts and Letters

innovator in the field of

essay

Acting is the loneliest profession I know.

is a very religious nation. Not a mono-religious nation because there are many different strands of belief, but there's something about this nation that inspires people, or perhaps draws people, who are strongly idealistic.

America is a very religious nation. Not a mono-religious nation because there are many different strands of belief, but there's something about this nation that inspires people, or perhaps draws people, who are strongly idealistic.

is a multi-metaphor made up of distinct regions. Many regions of this country are almost like different countries. Even in one state, northern and southern California are like two separate countries.

The American dream is a multi-metaphor made up of distinct regions. Many regions of this country are almost like different countries. Even in one state, northern and southern California are like two separate countries.

is fueled by rebellion: the need, in some amounting to obsessions, to resist what is, to defy one's elders, even to the point of ostracism; to define oneself, and by extension one's generation, as new, novel, ungovernable.

Art is fueled by rebellion: the need, in some amounting to obsessions, to resist what is, to defy one's elders, even to the point of ostracism; to define oneself, and by extension one's generation, as new, novel, ungovernable.

is the highest expression of the human spirit.

Art is the highest expression of the human spirit.

is about freedom of expression, and should not be molded to fit any propaganda or lofty ideal.

Art is about freedom of expression, and should not be molded to fit any propaganda or lofty ideal.

is what links us... it is memory without language.

We are linked by blood, and blood is memory without language. Joyce Carol Oates

is akin to pornography in that in each case the spectator is made a voyeur, distanced, yet presumably intimately involved, in an event that is not supposed to happening as it is happening.

is the only sport in which the objective is to cause injury.

Oates, J. C. (1987). On boxing. Garden City, NY: Dolphin/Doubleday.

Can compromise be an art' Yes--but a minor art.

is the first thing the gods grants to those whom they wish to destroy.

Those whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make famous.

is nothing but memories, haphazard and precious as the contents of a catchall drawer in the kitchen.

*All of nationalism can be understood as a kind of collective narcissism.

is just business. Congress takes bribes to protect the gun trade. Could anything be simpler?

Guns are just business. Congress takes bribes to protect gun trade. Could anything be simpler?

is fueled by emotions beyond the control of the conscious mind.

Obviously the imagination is fueled by emotions beyond the control of the conscious mind. Joyce Carol Oates

is essential to society in the way that dreams are essential to our lives. We can't live without dreaming as we can't live without sleep. We are 'conscious' beings for only a limited period of time, then we sink back into sleep the 'unconscious.' It is nourishing, in ways we can't fully understand.

My theory is that literature is essential to society in the way that dreams are essential to our lives. We can't live without dreaming as we can't live without sleep. We are 'conscious' beings for only a limited period of time, then we sink back into sleep the 'unconscious.' It is nourishing, in ways we can't fully understand. Joyce Carol Oates

is like starvation: you don't realize how hungry you are until you begin to eat.

Loneliness is like starvation: you don't realize how hungry you are until you begin to eat.

is relatively rare in individuals, but it is virtually a prerequisite for a certain sort of political leader.

While madness in individuals is relatively rare, it is virtually a prerequisite for a certain sort of political leader.

's danger is that you relive your early self, through the eyes of your mother.

The danger of motherhood. you relive your early self, through the eyes of your mother.

is that most mythical of cities. It tends to emerge in recent literature as hellish, or at any rate murderous; yet its presence is the occasion for some of the most subtle and intelligently graceful prose of our time.

New York City is that most mythical of cities - tends to emerge in recent literature as hellish, or at any rate murderous; yet its presence is the occasion for some of the most subtle and intelligently graceful prose of our time. Imaginary Cities: America

Joyce Carol OatesThinkers

Joyce Carol Oates