“If people choose to live their life in a way that does not confront th...” — Joyce Maynard Quote

“If people choose to live their life in a way that does not confront the more troubling aspects of their experience, that's fine, if it works for them. But it will probably make them uncomfortable if they come up against somebody like me. So they just shouldn't! They shouldn't read my work!”

“I believed my story would be helpful to young women my daughter's age, who are still in the process of forming themselves as women, and in need of encouragement to remain true to themselves.”

“The painter who feels obligated to depict his subjects as uniformly beautiful or handsome and without flaws will fall short of making art.”

“Imperfection and perfection go so hand in hand, and our dark and our light are so intertwined, that by trying to push the darkness or the so-called negative aspects of our life to the side... we are preventing ourselves from the fullness of life.”

“I'm very interested, for instance, in music in education - getting young people not only to listen to, but participate in the music that I write. I consider this one of the most vital aspects of my work.”

“Well, I think in my own work the subject matter usually deals with characters I know, aspects of myself, friends of mine - that sort of thing.”