Of all the things you choose in life, you don't get to choose what your nightmares are. You don't pick them; they… — John Irving Copy Share Image
Be serious. Life hurts. Reflect what hurts. I don't mean that you can't also be funny, or have fun, but at the… — John Irving Copy Share Image
“Rural life in the winter months was rugged: snow-blurred and alcohol-fueled, violent and fast.” — John Irving Copy Share Image
The first of my father's illusions was that bears could survive the life led by human beings; the second was that human… — John Irving Copy Share Image
Nothing moves at the Hotel New Hampshire! We're screwed down here-for life! — John Irving Copy Share Image
Ted Seabrooke, my wrestling coach, had a kind of Nietzschean effect on me in terms of not just his estimation of my… — John Irving Copy Share Image
“I you are lucky enough to find a way of life you love, you have to find the courage to live it.” — John Irving Copy Share Image
If you care about something you have to protect it. If you're lucky enough to find a way of life you love,… — John Irving Copy Share Image
Adolescence-is it the first time in life we discover that we have something terrible to hide from those who love us? — John Irving Copy Share Image
“don't worry - so what if there is no life after death? There is life after Garp, believe me.” — John Irving Copy Share Image
“IT DOESN'T MATTER WHERE YOU LEARNED IT- IT'S A GIFT. IF YOU CARE ABOUT SOMETHING, YOU HAVE TO PROTECT IT. IF YOU'RE… — John Irving Copy Share Image
I try to see the whole woman,' Eddie said to Hannah. 'Of course I recognize that she's old, but there are photographs… — John Irving Copy Share Image
“There is no Purgatory-that's a catholic invention. There's life on earth, There's heaven-and there's hell” — John Irving Copy Share Image
You can learn a lot from your lovers, but-for the most part-you get to keep your friends longer, and you learn more… — John Irving Copy Share Image
More than a half, maybe as much as two-thirds of my life as a writer is rewriting. I wouldn't say I have… — John Irving Copy Share Image
I grew up without a father, who was kept a mystery to me. There was a sense of uprootedness, things being one… — John Irving Copy Share Image
All his life he would hold this moment as exemplary of what love was. It was not wanting anything more, nor was… — 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
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 Image
… 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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
“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 Image
“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 Image
“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 Image
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 Image
“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 Image
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 Image
