“don't worry - so what if there is no life after death? There is life after Garp, believe me.” — John Irving Copy Share Image
I always thought that you could do worse than find yourself dying in the company of a devoted former student. — John Irving Copy Share Image
Death, it seems," Garp wrote, "does not like to wait until we are prepared for it. Death is indulgent and enjoys, when… — John Irving Copy Share Image
“to burn itself on a funeral pyre and then rise up from its own ashes. Under the drawing, Owen had written: “OFTEN… — John Irving Copy Share Image
“No matter what my fucking last words were, please say they were these: 'I have always known that the pursuit of excellence… — John Irving Copy Share Image
“Owen Meany had believed that his death was necessary if others were to be saved from a stupidity and hatred that was… — John Irving Copy Share Image
“And when Dr. Daruwalla breathed in her dangerous aroma, he thought he'd at last identified the smell of sex, which struck him… — John Irving Copy Share Image
You know, everybody dies. My parents died. Your father died. Everybody dies. I'm going to die too. So will you. The thing… — John Irving Copy Share Image
“When (The World According To) Garp was published, people who’d lost children wrote to me. ‘’I lost one, too,’’ they told me.… — John Irving Copy Share Image
I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice. Not because of his voice, or because he was the smallest… — John Irving Copy Share Image
The history of a city was like the history of a family—there is closeness and even affection, but death eventually separates everyone… — John Irving Copy Share Image
But I felt certain that if the world would stop indulging wars and famines and other perils, it would be possible for… — John Irving Copy Share Image
“Because who can describe the look that triggers the memory of loved ones? Who can anticipate the frown, the smile, or the… — John Irving Copy Share Image
If watching television doesn't hasten death, it surely manages to make death very inviting; for television so shamelessly sentimentalizes and romanticizes death… — John Irving Copy Share Image
And Father said, “There are no happy endings.” “Right!” cried Iowa Bob – an odd mixture of exuberance and stoicism in his… — John Irving Copy Share Image
“will tell you what is my overriding perception of the last twenty years: that we are a civilization careening toward a succession… — John Irving Copy Share Image
When someone you love dies, and you're not expecting it, you don't lose her all at once; you lose her in pieces… — John Irving Copy Share Image
Your memory is a monster; you forget - it doesn't. It simply files things away. It keeps things for you, or hides things from… — John Irving Copy Share
… and so he tried to accept the ache in his heart as what Dr. Larch would call the common symptoms of normal life. — John Irving Copy Share
Watch out for people who call themselves religious; make sure you know what they mean––make sure they know what they mean! — John Irving Copy Share
The desire to never leave your side, the desire to never see you again. The desire to see your face asleep on the pillow… — John Irving Copy Share
I had been a student in Vienna, and one of the neat little things I had found out was about that zoo. It was… — John Irving Copy Share
“God, I think I just hit a high E-flat - and I really held it!" Esmeralda said, after one of her more prolonged orgasms,… — John Irving Copy Share
“Nostalgia!" Miss Frost cried. "You´re nostalgic!" She repeated. "Just how old are you, William?" She asked. "Seventeen, " I told her. "Seventeen!" Miss Frost… — John Irving Copy Share
“JUST BECAUSE A BUNCH OF ATHEISTS ARE BETTER WRITERS THAN THE GUYS WHO WROTE THE BIBLE DOESN'T NECESSARILY MAKE THEM RIGHT!" [Owen Meany] said… — John Irving Copy Share
It is much easier to be flexible about where a story begins than it ever was for me to change my mind about where… — John Irving Copy Share
“Only the chicken-lover will understand me. He will give me a kindly look, maybe mildly desirous. His eyes will tell me: You might look… — John Irving Copy Share
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… — John Irving Copy Share
“Because of A Prayer for Owen Meany, many of my readers assume I am “religious.” I go to church only occasionally—like a lot of… — John Irving Copy Share
“Did anyone who was in love and was unsatisfied with how he was loved in return ever feel saved?” — John Irving Copy Share
“I TRUST THAT GOD WILL HELP ME, BECAUSE WHAT I’M SUPPOSED TO DO LOOKS VERY HARD.” — John Irving Copy Share
