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
The worst cynicism: a belief in luck.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Believing in luck reflects a lack of agency and responsibility in one's life choices.
Joyce Carol Oates suggests that relying on luck is a form of cynicism, as it implies that individuals do not have control over their outcomes. Instead of taking responsibility for their actions and decisions, they defer to chance, which can lead to a passive approach to life that ultimately undermines personal growth and achievement.
Themes
CynicismLuckResponsibilityAgencyChoice
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be shared during a motivational speech to highlight the importance of effort over reliance on luck.
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
. . . 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
When my brother called to inform me, on the morning of May 22, 2003, that our mother Caroline Oates had died suddenly of a stroke, it was a shock from which, in a way, I have yet to recover.
Joyce Carol OatesRead
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