#say

When people say there is too much violence in my books, what they are saying is there is too much reality in life. ↗

— Joyce Carol Oates

#life #much #people #people say #reality

Criticism is, for me, like essay writing, a wonderful way of relaxation; it doesn't require a heightened and mediated voice, like prose fiction, but rather a calm, rational, even conversational voice. ↗

— Joyce Carol Oates

#conversational #criticism #essay #even #fiction

I can't say I was a very successful sorority girl. ↗

— Joyce Carol Oates

#i #say #successful #very

Probably nothing serious or worthwhile can be accomplished without one's willingness to be alone for sustained periods of time, which is not to say that one must live alone, obsessively. ↗

— Joyce Carol Oates

#alone #live #must #nothing #obsessively

Sometimes I read reviews, and without exception I will read critical essays that are sent to me. The critical essays are interesting on their own terms. ↗

— Joyce Carol Oates

#essays #exception #i #interesting #me

You need so much energy and encouragement to write that if someone says something negative, some of that energy goes. ↗

— Joyce Carol Oates

#energy #goes #much #need #negative

We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times... and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK. That's not leadership. That's not going to happen. ↗

— Barack Obama

#degrees #drive #eat #expect #going

A good compromise, a good piece of legislation, is like a good sentence; or a good piece of music. Everybody can recognize it. They say, 'Huh. It works. It makes sense.' ↗

— Barack Obama

#everybody #good #huh #legislation #like

Our friends at the Republican convention were more than happy to talk about everything they think is wrong with America, but they didn't have much to say about how they'd make it right. They want your vote, but they don't want you to know their plan. ↗

— Barack Obama

#america #convention #everything #friends #happy

But if you - if what - the reports are true, what they're saying is, is that as a consequence of us getting 30 million additional people health care, at the margins that's going to increase our costs, we knew that. ↗

— Barack Obama

#care #consequence #costs #getting #going