John Irving Quotes

I begin with an interest in a relationship, a situation, a character.

People are either attracted to the unseemly or disapproving of it, or both; yet we try to sound superior to the unseemly by pretending to be amused by it or indifferent to it.

The unspoken factor is love. The reason I can work so hard at my writing is that it's not work for me.

Because abortions are illegal, women who need and want them have no choice in the matter, and you-because you know how to perform them-have no choice, either

When you legislate personal belief, you're in violation of freedom of religion.

You can't learn everything you need to know legally.

Self-hatred is worse than loneliness.

The object of war is to survive it.

There's nothing as scary as the future.

People only ask questions when they're ready to hear the answers.

wherever the TV glows, there sits someone who isn't reading.

Death, it seems," Garp wrote, "does not like to wait until we are prepared for it. Death is indulgent and enjoys, when it can, a flair for the dramatic.

I always know more about the ending, even the aftermath to the ending, than I know about the beginning. And so there's a construction that works from back to front.

I have a very poor record at multiple choice questions.

My life as a writer consists of 1/8 talent and 7/8 discipline.

People regard art too highly, and history not enough

She was an expert at the art of sudden appearance.

I believe in rules of behavior, and I'm quite interested in stories about the consequences of breaking those rules.

I've always preferred writing in longhand. I've always written first drafts in longhand.

This is what self-centered religion does to us: it allows us to use it to further our own ends.

when however small a measure of jealousy is mixed with misunderstanding, there is always going to be trouble.

If pride is a sin ... moral pride is the greatest sin.

Don’t you understand?” he would say, “You imagine the story better than I remember it.

I believe a novel should be as complicated and involved as you're capable of making it.

I grew up in a family where, through my teenage years, I was expected to go to church on Sunday. It wasn't terribly painful.

I'm a worst-case scenario person. I'm only interested in a story because I kind of go, like a magnet, to the worst thing that can happen.

O God — please give him back! I shall keep asking You.

Most places we leave in childhood grow less, not more, fancy.

No one but me ever put a hand on me to feel that baby. No one wanted to put his ear against it and listen...You shouldn't have a baby if there's no one who wants to feel it kick or listen to it move.

In increments both measurable and not, our childhood is stolen from us -- not always in one momentous event but often in a series of small robberies, which add up to the same loss.

Just because you're sober, don't think you're a good driver, Cookie.

Human sexuality makes farcical our most serious intentions.

There are few things as seemingly untouched by the real world as a child asleep.

It is exhausting to be seventeen and not know who you are.

Kids are perfect people till grownups get their hands on them.

Adolescence-is it the first time in life we discover that we have something terrible to hide from those who love us?

Nothing moves at the Hotel New Hampshire! We're screwed down here-for life!

If I had to be anything," he told her, "I'd probably be a socialist, but I don't want to be anything.

If you feel strongly about people having abortions, don't have one. But we are a country - USA - that likes to be punitive. We want to restrict. It is a kind of religious fervor run amuck.

As it was, things went from bad to worse, as they often will when amateurs are involved in an activity that they perform in bad temper – or in a hurry.

When I feel like being a director, I write a novel.

My brain is sending poison to my heart.

… and so he tried to accept the ache in his heart as what Dr. Larch would call the common symptoms of normal life.

You know, people think you have to be dumb to skip rope for 45 minutes. No, you have to be able to imagine something else. While you're skipping rope, you have to be able to see something else.

Gender mattered a whole lot less to Shakespeare than it seems to matter to us.

It's my experience that very few writers, young or old, are really seeking advice when they give out their work to be read. They want support; they want someone to say, "Good job."

Being wrong about important things is exhausting.

You cannot drive with your eyes in the rear-view mirror… But dignity is difficult to maintain. Stamina requires constant upkeep. Repetition is boring. And you pay for grace.

They all settled into being the kind of friends when they heard from each other.... or when they occasionally got together. And when they were not in touch, they did not think of one another.

There is no straightforward negotiation with a four year old.