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"Nor do I like being told upsetting news-unless there is a good reason. I can't help but feel that there is an element of cruelty, if not sadism, in friends telling one another upsetting things for no reason except to observe their reactions."
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"Some people are like thorns. But you have to let them be thorns, because thorns can't turn into petals. The trick is not letting them prick you; never let a thorn prick you!"

"Those who laugh with you when you laugh are acquaintances, those who cry with you when you cry are companions, and those who do both are friends."

"Behind you, leave your enemies. Beside you, keep your family. Around you, maintain your friends. Within you, cherish God."

"Ok. You fuck me, then snub me. You love me, you hate me. You show me a sensitive side, then you turn into a total asshole. Is this a pretty accurate description of our relationship."

"You've got to know when to let a woman go if you want to keep her,and if you don't want to keep her you let her go anyhow so it's always a process of letting go, one way or the other."

"Man loves pleasure. But women desire purposeful commitment."

"Enemies are often former or potential friends who have been denied - or think that they have been denied - something."

"Behind you, leave your enemies. Beside you, keep your family. Around you, maintain your friends. Within you, treasure God."

"Just because our friendship has changed and now we grow in different directions, does not mean that we have to grow apart."

"I just want one person I can rescue and I want one person who needs me. Who can't live without me. I want to be a hero, but not just one time."
Explore more quotes by Joyce Carol Oates

"Memory blurs, that's the point. If memory didn't blur you wouldn't have the fool's courage to do things again, again, again, that tear you apart."

"Getting the first draft finished is like pushing a very dirty peanut across the floor with your nose."

"Because nothing between human beings is uncomplicated and there's no way to speak of human beings without simplifying and misrepresenting them."

"There are some secrets so toxic you can't share. Especially if you love who it is you'd have to share with."

"Homo sapiens is the species that invents symbols in which to invest passion and authority, then forgets that symbols are inventions."

"Reading is the sole means by which we slip, involuntarily, often helplessly, into another's skin, another's voice, another's soul."

"Dominique (who, like other Catamount girls, had a cache of pills for every occasion) offered me a bennie- Benzedrine?- to elevate my spirits. Adamantly I told her, No thanks! I wanted to face what's called reality with my eyes open.I've made that a principle for my life. Sometimes I wonder if this has been a wise decision."

"So you don't believe we have souls I guess?' and Legs laughed and said, 'Yeah probably we do but why's that mean we're gonna last forever? Like a flame is real enough, isn't it, while it's burning?-even if there's a time it goes out?'"

"A broken heart is something even I can't protect you from. I've been alone for so long, and believe me, all that does is provide a false sense of security. Being alone doesn't erase the deep yearning that exists in all of us. We are not solitary creatures. You have to love and open your heart. If not, what is it we are trying to save? When it swallows you whole, remember it means you've lived."
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