--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: \"Politics\" per se is absent from my…" description: "\"\"Politics\" per se is absent from my writing but there is usually a moral (if ironic) compass.\" — 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" --- # "Politics" per se is absent from my writing but there is… ![“"Politics" per se is absent from my writing but there is usually a moral (if ironic) compass.” quote by Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/612/joyce-carol-oates-344_absent_politics-per-se-is-absent-from-my-writin_1375824.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/612/joyce-carol-oates-344_absent_politics-per-se-is-absent-from-my-writin_1375824.png) [Open 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.” [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Her writing avoids explicit politics but embeds a moral compass, often with irony. **In simple terms:** She hides moral guidance in stories, using irony. Key Takeaway Use subtle moral cues in narrative. Themes politics morality irony literature Mood thoughtful introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - Fiction writing - journalistic essays - public speeches Key Concepts Ethical relativism narrative technique Questions to Reflect On - What moral lesson is implied? - How does irony affect interpretation? A Different Perspective Irony can obscure the intended moral message. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Compass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compass/) [Ironic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ironic/) [Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [It would be difficult for a writer of realism to avoid suggesting a political/moral perspective in his or her fiction. "Politics" per se is…](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/) > [A FRIEND IS A PERSON . . . With whom you can be sincere. . . . 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The manager who is an emotional blank is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-baggini/anger-clearly-has-its-proper-place-at-work-which-is-neither-wholly/) [Julian Baggini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-baggini/) > [It's Simon, he's missing." Ahh." said Magnus delicately "Missing what exactly?" Missing!" 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They seek each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erin-morgenstern/they-are-enthusiasts-devotees-addicts-something-about-the-circus/) [Erin Morgenstern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erin-morgenstern/) > [Emma was a shocking driver, simultaneously sloppy and petrified, and for the first fifty miles had been absent-mindedly driving with her spectacles on top…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-nicholls/emma-was-a-shocking-driver-simultaneously-sloppy-and-petrified-and/) [David Nicholls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-nicholls/) > [In a general way, the literature of the twentieth century is essentially psychological; and psychology consists of describing states of the soul by displaying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/in-a-general-way-the-literature-of-the-twentieth-century-is/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > [Majority decisions tend to be made without engaging the systematic thought and critical thinking skills of the individuals in the group. 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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. 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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. 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