Quotes from We Were the Mulvaneys

“In a family, what isn't spoken is what you listen for. But the noise of a family is to drown it out.”
― Joyce Carol Oates, quote from We Were the Mulvaneys

“For what are the words with which to summarize a lifetime, so much crowded confused happiness terminated by such stark slow-motion pain?”
― Joyce Carol Oates, quote from We Were the Mulvaneys

“Strange: how when a light is extinguished, it's immediately as if it has never been. Darkness fills in again, complete.”
― Joyce Carol Oates, quote from We Were the Mulvaneys

“Because nothing between human beings is uncomplicated and there's no way to speak of human beings without simplifying and misrepresenting them.”
― Joyce Carol Oates, quote from We Were the Mulvaneys

“Did you know, Marianne: how by breaking the code that day, you broke it forever? For us all?”
― Joyce Carol Oates, quote from We Were the Mulvaneys

“Marianne laughed. But you can’t disappoint me! I don’t love you.”
― Joyce Carol Oates, quote from We Were the Mulvaneys

“P.J. said, "That's true about any statement we make, isn't it? We never tell as much as we know."
"Right! So We're lying. So almost every statement is a lie, we can't help it."
"Yeah. But some statements are more lies than others.”
― Joyce Carol Oates, quote from We Were the Mulvaneys

“In that way you recall, suddenly, sharply, in daylight, a trace of a dream of the previous night--but even as you recall it, it begins to fade.”
― Joyce Carol Oates, quote from We Were the Mulvaneys

“Oh, it’s a terrible, cruel thing—first you’re young, and that takes up such a long time you think it’s forever, then suddenly you’re not young, and you never get used to it—and, oh dear, there’s just the one way out.”
― Joyce Carol Oates, quote from We Were the Mulvaneys

“During these mad dashes to the wall phone in the kitchen she hadn't time to fall but with fantastical grace and dexterity wrenched herself upright in midfall and continued running (dogs whimpering, yapping hysterically in her wake, cats scattering wide-eyed and plume-tailed) before the telephone ceased it's querulous ringing--though frequently she was greeted with nothing more than a derisive dial tone, in any case.”
― Joyce Carol Oates, quote from We Were the Mulvaneys

“It simply fell from him, like a heavy overcoat he'd shrugged off, no longer needing its warmth or bulk to protect him.”
― Joyce Carol Oates, quote from We Were the Mulvaneys

“Thinking of such things like they’d happened years ago already and not just a few weeks back. For once life begins to accelerate it goes faster and faster.”
― Joyce Carol Oates, quote from We Were the Mulvaneys

“Love you in that cheerleader’s costume. Last Friday. You didn’t see me I guess. But I was there.”
― Joyce Carol Oates, quote from We Were the Mulvaneys

“Well, no. Marianne thought there could be lots worse.”
― Joyce Carol Oates, quote from We Were the Mulvaneys

“It struck her to the heart, left her weak, disoriented, that, to Michael Mulvaney, after all, his family wasn’t quite enough.”
― Joyce Carol Oates, quote from We Were the Mulvaneys

“Della Rae was a pig and she was smashed out of her skull and you didn’t want to think about it,”
― Joyce Carol Oates, quote from We Were the Mulvaneys

“the United States government was at the mercy of special-interest groups, lobbies like the National Rifle Association and the American Medical Association, the automobile and oil industries, every kind of defense manufacturer, how could democracy be served?”
― Joyce Carol Oates, quote from We Were the Mulvaneys

“if she petted or fed one animal in the presence of others, she must pet and feed them all. It was what Jesus would have done had He lived intimately with animals.”
― Joyce Carol Oates, quote from We Were the Mulvaneys

“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.”
― Joyce Carol Oates, quote from We Were the Mulvaneys

“I believe in uttering the truth, even if it hurts. Particularly if it hurts.”
― Joyce Carol Oates, quote from We Were the Mulvaneys

“What had they been talking about?”
― Joyce Carol Oates, quote from We Were the Mulvaneys

“No noose is good noose’—as the condemned man said on the scaffold.”
― Joyce Carol Oates, quote from We Were the Mulvaneys

“Because nothing between human beings isn’t uncomplicated and there’s no way to speak of human beings without simplifying and misrepresenting them.”
― Joyce Carol Oates, quote from We Were the Mulvaneys

“How happy she was, how elated!”
― Joyce Carol Oates, quote from We Were the Mulvaneys

“A dog’s life is a speeded-up version of your own. After a while, you can hardly bear to be a witness.”
― Joyce Carol Oates, quote from We Were the Mulvaneys

“(always, you want to impress them: men of authority)”
― Joyce Carol Oates, quote from We Were the Mulvaneys

“It was Corinne’s secret belief that her daughter was a far finer person than she was herself, a riddle put to her by God. I must become the mother deserving of such a daughter—is that it?”
― Joyce Carol Oates, quote from We Were the Mulvaneys

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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.