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You wake up one morning, those years are gone. There's a comfort in this fact perhaps. I want to think that there must be comfort in all facts we can't alter.
Joyce Carol Oates
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote reflects on the acceptance of time passing and the comfort that can be found in the unchangeable aspects of life.

Joyce Carol Oates expresses a profound truth about the passage of time and the inevitability of change. The quote suggests that while we may grieve the loss of years, there is solace to be found in accepting that some facts of life are beyond our control. This acceptance can bring a sense of peace, allowing us to focus on the present rather than longing for what has passed.

Themes

TimeChangeAcceptanceComfortLife

In practice

Example use cases

In a motivational speech about embracing the passage of time.

More from Joyce Carol Oates

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.
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I 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.
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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.
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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.
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The worst cynicism: a belief in luck.
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. . . 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.
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