Quotes from The Gravedigger's Daughter

Joyce Carol Oates ·  582 pages

Rating: (8.5K votes)


“The danger of motherhood. you relive your early self, through the eyes of your mother.”
― Joyce Carol Oates, quote from The Gravedigger's Daughter


“Remembering backward is the easy thing. If you could remember forward, you could save yourself...”
― Joyce Carol Oates, quote from The Gravedigger's Daughter


“On their own, your eyes did not naturally discover the sky.”
― Joyce Carol Oates, quote from The Gravedigger's Daughter


“Las masas se venden por un salario, los capitalistas son unos hijos de puta que te seccionan la yugular, recogen tu sangre en frascos y la venden al mejor postor, la religión es el opio de las masas y las iglesias son empresas capitalistas organizadas para hacer dinero y asegurarse poder e influencia. Por supuesto, las leyes favorecen a los ricos y a los poderosos, el poder sólo desea engendrar más poder de la misma manera que el capiral sólo quiere engendrar más capital.”
― Joyce Carol Oates, quote from The Gravedigger's Daughter


“Remembering backward is the easy thing. If you could remember forward, you could save yourself…”
― Joyce Carol Oates, quote from The Gravedigger's Daughter



“That sensation of things-falling-away. Once the ice begins to crack, it will happen swiftly.   She”
― Joyce Carol Oates, quote from The Gravedigger's Daughter


“Three days later on October 29, 1959, the Pontiac registered in the name of Niles Tignor would be discovered, gas tank near-empty, keys on the floorboards beneath the front seat, in a parking lot close by the Greyhound bus station in Rome, New York.”
― Joyce Carol Oates, quote from The Gravedigger's Daughter


“You have hardened your heart against your “American cousin.” It was courageous in the memoir to state so clearly how you had to harden your heart against so much, to survive. Americans believe that suffering makes saints of us, which is a joke. Still I realize you have no time for me in your life now. There is no “purpose” to me. Even”
― Joyce Carol Oates, quote from The Gravedigger's Daughter


“Durante la primera semana en la sala de montaje, a Rebecca le producía náuseas el olor, la rapidez del ritmo, el ruido. Ruido ruido ruido. Con tantos decibelios, el ruido no es sólo sonido, sino algo físico, visceral, como una corriente eléctrica que atraviesa el cuerpo.”
― Joyce Carol Oates, quote from The Gravedigger's Daughter


“Asusta, corta la respiración, cada vez con más fuerza. El corazón se acelera para mantener el paso. El cerebro echa a correr, pero sin ir a ningún sitio. No es posible pensar de manera coherente. Los pensamientos se derraman como las cuentas de una sarta rota...”
― Joyce Carol Oates, quote from The Gravedigger's Daughter



“THANK YOU but please do not write again. And do not call. I have had enough of you.”
― Joyce Carol Oates, quote from The Gravedigger's Daughter


About the author

Joyce Carol Oates
Born place: in Lockport, New York, The United States
Born date June 16, 1938
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“I would never trust her. Not one hundred percent. Not the way some people can trust their mothers.”
― Jacqueline Woodson, quote from If You Come Softly


“أخبرها إنه يرثي لحال خطيبته منذ الآن لأنها ارتبطت برجل قد تذوق طعم الكمال في إمراءة قبلها، وسيظل الطعم على لسانه، يستحيل على امرأة عادية أن تمحوه”
― Rajaa Alsanea, quote from Girls of Riyadh


“In the first place God made idiots. This was for practice. Then he made school boards.”
― Mark Twain, quote from Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World


“get the collection of blankets and rugs from the boat. They arranged them in the corners of the little room, and thought that it would be very exciting to spend the night there. ‘The two girls can sleep together on this pile of rugs,’ said Julian. ‘And we two boys will have this pile.’ George looked as if she didn’t want to be put with Anne, and classed as a girl. But Anne didn’t”
― Enid Blyton, quote from Five on a Treasure Island


“We hug for forever.
The longest hug of my life.
I don’t even care that Ava and T are looking on from the couch. I just like, collapse into his arms.
“There’s a rumor going around,” he whispers.
My heart sinks.
I let go.
I look into his eyes.
“There is?”
“Yeah, I talked to Fisher, and she said--”
Oh! Fisher! Phew!
“You’re heading out.” Teague looks sad.
I look sad.
I am sad.
Teague looks at Ava and back at me.
“If it’s okay with Ava--” He pauses and loops his fingers around mine. “I would love the pleasure of your company for one last night.”
We both turn toward Ava like two love-starved teenagers.
Wait, we are love-starved teenagers!
“Ava?” I ask in my sweetest pretty-please voice.
She rolls her eyes and rests her head on T’s shoulder.
“Do you think I’m the Grinch who stole Christmas? Of course you can go!”
“I can?”
“You can,” she says, amused by my excitement.
There is a lot of love in this room.
A lot of love.
Teague’s not done.
“Um.” He looks at Ava. “If Emily would like to, and it’s okay with you--” He squeezes my hand. “I was thinking we could stay out at my cabin.”
My eyes pop out of my head.
My jaw drops.
My eyebrows arch.
“Say what!” T looks up from his book.
But Ava turns to him and says something in his ear. Then, in what can only be explained as a true Christmas miracle, she looks back at me.
“Okay,” she says, gleaming back at us.
“It’s okay with me.”
― Megan Shull, quote from Amazing Grace


Interesting books

The Girl Savage
(1.4K)
The Girl Savage
by Katherine Rundell
Dangerous
(5.2K)
Dangerous
by Shannon Hale
More Than Water
(3.3K)
More Than Water
by Renee Ericson
Mistaken Kiss
(1.9K)
Mistaken Kiss
by Kathleen Baldwin
Des fleurs pour Algernon
(368.5K)
Des fleurs pour Alge...
by Daniel Keyes
The Complete Princess Trilogy: Princess; Princess Sultana's Daughters; and Princess Sultana's Circle
(770)
The Complete Princes...
by Jean Sasson

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.