--- title: "18 Ifs Quotes By Joyce Carol Oates" description: "18 Ifs quotes by Joyce Carol Oates. Plus more from Joyce Carol Oates and more Ifs sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/612/joyce-carol-oates-344_absent_politics-per-se-is-absent-from-my-writin_1375824.png" --- > ["Politics" per se is absent from my writing but there is usually a moral (if ironic) compass.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/politics-per-se-is-absent-from-my-writing-but-there-is-usually-a/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/612/joyce-carol-oates-344_absent_politics-per-se-is-absent-from-my-writin_1375824.png) > [Reading yields a wish to write, I think, except if the reading is dull and uninspiring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/reading-yields-a-wish-to-write-i-think-except-if-the-reading-is-dull/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b14/joyce-carol-oates-344_dull_reading-yields-a-wish-to-write-i-think-e_2932571.png) > [Nothing comes of so many things, if you have patience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/nothing-comes-of-so-many-things-if-you-have-patience/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bee/joyce-carol-oates-344_comes_nothing-comes-of-so-many-things-if-you-h_2712631.png) > [Boxing is rough. Even if you win, you get hurt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/boxing-is-rough-even-if-you-win-you-get-hurt/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e8/joyce-carol-oates-344_boxing_boxing-is-rough-even-if-you-win-you-get_1471373.png) > [I read books. Avidly, ardently! As if my life depended upon it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/i-read-books-avidly-ardently-as-if-my-life-depended-upon-it/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d6/joyce-carol-oates-344_book_i-read-books-avidly-ardently-as-if-my-li_176425.png) > [Loneliness is dangerous ... because if aloneness does not lead to God, it leads to the devil. It leads to the self.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/loneliness-is-dangerous-because-if-aloneness-does-not-lead-to-god-it/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b32/joyce-carol-oates-344_aloneness_loneliness-is-dangerous-because-if-alone_453981.png) > [Language is the instrument in all cases and can language be trusted?If it were not for language, could we lie?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/language-is-the-instrument-in-all-cases-and-can-language-be-trusted/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a4/joyce-carol-oates-344_cases_language-is-the-instrument-in-all-cases_1767887.png) > [It's very hard to be an experimental woman writer. If I had been writing under a pseudonym, just initials, I might have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/it-s-very-hard-to-be-an-experimental-woman-writer-if-i-had-been/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b96/joyce-carol-oates-344_different_it-s-very-hard-to-be-an-experimental-wom_934475.png) > [You are writing for your contemporaries - not for Posterity. If you are lucky, your contemporaries will become Posterity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/you-are-writing-for-your-contemporaries-not-for-posterity-if-you-are/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebf/joyce-carol-oates-344_ifs_you-are-writing-for-your-contemporaries_2186476.png) > [Strange: how when a light is extinguished, it's immediately as if it has never been. Darkness fills in again, complete.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/strange-how-when-a-light-is-extinguished-it-s-immediately-as-if-it/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c48/joyce-carol-oates-344_darkness_strange-how-when-a-light-is-extinguished_114578.png) > [“A lawyer is basically a mouth, like a shark is a mouth attached to a long gut. The business of lawyers is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/a-lawyer-is-basically-a-mouth-like-a-shark-is-a-mouth-attached-to-a/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c5/joyce-carol-oates-344_business_a-lawyer-is-basically-a-mouth-like-a-sha_2208452.jpg) > [If you explore beneath shyness or party chit-chat, you can sometimes turn a dull exchange into an intriguing one. I've found this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/if-you-explore-beneath-shyness-or-party-chit-chat-you-can-sometimes/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ff/joyce-carol-oates-344_cases_if-you-explore-beneath-shyness-or-party_160235.png) > [It would be difficult for a writer of realism to avoid suggesting a political/moral perspective in his or her fiction. "Politics" per…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/it-would-be-difficult-for-a-writer-of-realism-to-avoid-suggesting-a/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e2/joyce-carol-oates-344_absent_it-would-be-difficult-for-a-writer-of-re_2276603.jpg) > [If Shakespeare's great plays are variants of stories, even novels, you can see how each character is telling his story from his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/if-shakespeare-s-great-plays-are-variants-of-stories-even-novels-you/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/081/joyce-carol-oates-344_books_if-shakespeare-s-great-plays-are-variant_1193603.png) > [This is my life now. Absurd, but unpredictable. Not absurd because unpredictable but unpredictable because absurd. If I have lost the meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/this-is-my-life-now-absurd-but-unpredictable-not-absurd-because/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed6/joyce-carol-oates-344_absurd_this-is-my-life-now-absurd-but-unpredict_123989.png) > [Blood transforms the warm bath water and, in it, I see weakly that this was a mistake. The razor's cut is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/blood-transforms-the-warm-bath-water-and-in-it-i-see-weakly-that-this/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/34e/joyce-carol-oates-344_baths_blood-transforms-the-warm-bath-water-and_2290768.jpg) > [You people who have survived childhood don't remeber any longer what it was like. You think children are whole, uncomplicated creatures, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/you-people-who-have-survived-childhood-don-t-remeber-any-longer-what/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc2/joyce-carol-oates-344_adults_you-people-who-have-survived-childhood-d_2083286.png) > [The joyous fulfillment of your sex : the sacred duties of beloved wife, and helpmeet, and mother. In opposition to the vulgar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/the-joyous-fulfillment-of-your-sex-the-sacred-duties-of-beloved-wife/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a1/joyce-carol-oates-344_believe_the-joyous-fulfillment-of-your-sex-the-s_3122756.png) ## Other authors on Ifs ## More by Joyce Carol Oates > [“A woman who has lost her husband is invalid, thus an invalid. In”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/a-woman-who-has-lost-her-husband-is-invalid-thus-an-invalid-in/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [Running! If there's any activity happier, more exhilarating, more nourishing to the imagination, I can't think of what it might be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/running-if-there-s-any-activity-happier-more-exhilarating-more/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [You need so much energy and encouragement to write that if someone says something negative, some of that energy goes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/you-need-so-much-energy-and-encouragement-to-write-that-if-someone/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [I learned long ago that being Lewis Carroll was infinitely more exciting than being Alice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/i-learned-long-ago-that-being-lewis-carroll-was-infinitely-more/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [Paradox: how do we know what we have failed to see because we have no language to express it, thus we cannot know that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/paradox-how-do-we-know-what-we-have-failed-to-see-because-we-have-no/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [At all crucial moments in our lives we want to speak without knowing what to say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/at-all-crucial-moments-in-our-lives-we-want-to-speak-without-knowing/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [A writer’s life is in his work, and that is the place to find him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/a-writer-s-life-is-in-his-work-and-that-is-the-place-to-find-him/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [The challenge is to resist circumstances. Any idiot can be happy in a happy place, but moral courage is required to be happy in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/the-challenge-is-to-resist-circumstances-any-idiot-can-be-happy-in-a/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [The first sentence cant be written until the final sentence is written.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/the-first-sentence-cant-be-written-until-the-final-sentence-is-written/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [“Did you know, Marianne: how by breaking the code that day, you broke it forever? For us all?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/did-you-know-marianne-how-by-breaking-the-code-that-day-you-broke-it/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > ['The Accursed' is very much a novel about social injustice as the consequence of the terrible, tragic division of classes - the exploitation not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/the-accursed-is-very-much-a-novel-about-social-injustice-as-the/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [Keep a light, hopeful heart. But expect the worst.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/keep-a-light-hopeful-heart-but-expect-the-worst/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [And this is the forbidden truth, the unspeakable taboo - that evil is not always repellent but frequently attractive; that it has the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/and-this-is-the-forbidden-truth-the-unspeakable-taboo-that-evil-is/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [I don't think that writer's block exists really. I think that when you're trying to do something prematurely, it just won't come. Certain subjects…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/i-don-t-think-that-writer-s-block-exists-really-i-think-that-when-you/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [... such speculation is like staring into the hot white sun. you know the sun is there but you can't see a thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/such-speculation-is-like-staring-into-the-hot-white-sun-you-know-the/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/joyce-carol-oates/#itemlist", "name": "18 Ifs Quotes By Joyce Carol Oates", "numberOfItems": 18, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "\"Politics\" per se is absent from my writing but there is usually a moral (if ironic) compass.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joyce Carol Oates" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/politics-per-se-is-absent-from-my-writing-but-there-is-usually-a/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/612/joyce-carol-oates-344_absent_politics-per-se-is-absent-from-my-writin_1375824.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/612/joyce-carol-oates-344_absent_politics-per-se-is-absent-from-my-writin_1375824.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/612/joyce-carol-oates-344_absent_politics-per-se-is-absent-from-my-writin_1375824.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“\"Politics\" per se is absent from my writing but there is usually a moral (if ironic) compass.” — Joyce Carol Oates", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Reading yields a wish to write, I think, except if the reading is dull and uninspiring.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joyce Carol Oates" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/reading-yields-a-wish-to-write-i-think-except-if-the-reading-is-dull/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b14/joyce-carol-oates-344_dull_reading-yields-a-wish-to-write-i-think-e_2932571.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b14/joyce-carol-oates-344_dull_reading-yields-a-wish-to-write-i-think-e_2932571.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b14/joyce-carol-oates-344_dull_reading-yields-a-wish-to-write-i-think-e_2932571.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Reading yields a wish to write, I think, except if the reading is dull and uninspiring.” — Joyce Carol Oates", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Nothing comes of so many things, if you have patience.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joyce Carol Oates" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/nothing-comes-of-so-many-things-if-you-have-patience/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bee/joyce-carol-oates-344_comes_nothing-comes-of-so-many-things-if-you-h_2712631.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bee/joyce-carol-oates-344_comes_nothing-comes-of-so-many-things-if-you-h_2712631.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bee/joyce-carol-oates-344_comes_nothing-comes-of-so-many-things-if-you-h_2712631.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Nothing comes of so many things, if you have patience.” — Joyce Carol Oates", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Boxing is rough. 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