John Irving Quotes - Page 6

People regard art too highly, and history not enough

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

Half my life is an act of revision; more than half the act is performed with small changes.

Rituals are comforting; rituals combat loneliness.

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.

Writing is hard. I learned how to work hard from wrestling, not English courses.

I’m not afraid, but I’m very nervous.

What do Americans know about morality? They don't want their presidents to have penises but they don't mind if their presidents covertly arrange to support the Nicaraguan rebel forces after Congress has restricted such aid; they don't want their presidents to deceive their wives but they don't mind if their presidents deceive Congress- lie to the people and violate the people's constitution!

She was an expert at the art of sudden appearance.

Ambition robs you of your childhood. The moment you want to become an adult—in any way—something in your childhood dies.

Sell my old clothes - I'm off to heaven

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

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

Homer and Candy passed by the empty and brightly lit dispensary; they peeked into Nurse Angela's empty office. Homer knew better than to peek into the delivery room when the light was on. From the dormitory, they could hear Dr. Larch's reading voice. Although Candy held tightly to his hand, Homer was inclined to hurry - in order not to miss the bedtime story.

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

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.

He was too young to know that, in any novel with a reasonable amount of forethought, there were no coincidences.

You're nice,' Cushie told him, squeezing his hand. 'And you're my oldest friend.' But they both must have known that you can know someone all your life and never quite be friends.

In this world,” Franny once observed, “just as you’re trying to think of yourself as memorable, there is always someone who forgets that that they have met you.

There are always suicides among people who are unable to say what they mean.

Our memory is a monster; you forget it - it does not.

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.

You can learn a lot from your lovers, but-for the most part-you get to keep your friends longer, and you learn more from them.

The desire to never leave your side, the desire to never see you again. The desire to see your face asleep on the pillow beside my face and to see your eyes open in the morning when I lie next to you—just watching you, waiting for you to wake up.

The lie, of course, is more interesting.