To claim - to claim repeatedly - that you are innocent of what it is claimed by others that you have done, or might have done, or are in some quarters strongly suspected of having done, is never enough unless others, numerous others, will say it for you.
Joyce Carol OatesThe ideal art, the noblest of art: working with the complexities of life, refusing to simplify, to "overcome" doubt.
Joyce Carol OatesUltimately, we measure ourselves against our own ideas of idealism and perfection, and we don't always come very close to them.
Joyce Carol Oates