Of the widow's countless death-duties there is really just one that matters: on the first anniversary of her husband's death the widow should think I kept myself alive.
Joyce Carol OatesRead
Love commingled with hate is more powerful than love. Or hate.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The combination of love and hate creates a stronger emotional force than either feeling alone.
In this quote, Joyce Carol Oates emphasizes the complexity of human emotions, suggesting that when love and hate intertwine, they form a powerful mixture that can influence actions and relationships far more than pure love or pure hate could. This duality reveals the intensity of human experiences, showing how intertwined feelings can lead to profound consequences in our lives.
Themes
LoveHateEmotionsPowerComplexity
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about relationships, this quote can illustrate the intensity of conflicting emotions.
More from Joyce Carol Oates
All quotes βI never really knew I wanted to 'be' a writer, but I was always writing from a very young age. It became more conscious as an ideal when I was in my twenties.
Joyce Carol OatesRead
I'm drawn to write about upstate New York in the way in which a dreamer might have recurring dreams. My childhood and girlhood were spent in upstate New York, in the country north of Buffalo and West of Rochester. So this part of New York state is very familiar to me and, with its economic difficulties, has become emblematic of much of American life.
Joyce Carol OatesRead
My writing is often a way of 'bearing witness' for others who lack the education and the opportunity to tell their own stories, so I hope that my writing won't be affected too much by my personal life.
Joyce Carol OatesRead
The worst cynicism: a belief in luck.
Joyce Carol OatesRead
. . . there is a wish in the heart of mankind to be distracted and confused. Truth is but one attraction, and not always the most powerful.
Joyce Carol OatesRead
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