Here is the trap you are in.... And it's not my trap—I haven't trapped you. Because abortions are illegal, women who need… — John Irving Copy Share Image
When I finally write the first sentence, I want to know everything that happens, so that I am not inventing the story… — John Irving Copy Share Image
When time passes, it's the people who knew you whom you want to see; they're the ones you can talk to. When… — John Irving Copy Share Image
You don't want to be ungenerous toward people who give you prizes, but it is never the social or political message that… — John Irving Copy Share Image
so my grandmother was not without humanity. and if she wore cocktail dresses when she labored in the garden, they were cocktail… — John Irving Copy Share Image
I want to go on being a student," I told him. "I want to be a teacher. I'm just a reader," I… — John Irving Copy Share Image
If you feel strongly about people having abortions, don't have one. But we are a country - USA - that likes to… — John Irving Copy Share Image
My first attraction to writing novels was the plot, that almost extinct animal. Those novels I read which made me want to… — John Irving Copy Share Image
When I love a novel I've read, I want to reread it - in part, to see how it was constructed. — John Irving Copy Share Image
No one but me ever put a hand on me to feel that baby. No one wanted to put his ear against… — John Irving Copy Share Image
It´s natural to want someone you love to do what you want, or what you think would be good for them, but… — John Irving Copy Share Image
I've always been interested in miracles, or the miraculous of the unexplained. I don't scoff at what makes people believe or want… — John Irving Copy Share Image
I think now that is the nature of hymns-they make us want to repeat them...they are a part of any service, and… — John Irving Copy Share Image
Because abortions are illegal, women who need and want them have no choice in the matter, and you-because you know how to… — John Irving Copy Share Image
It's my experience that very few writers, young or old, are really seeking advice when they give out their work to be… — John Irving Copy Share Image
Human beings are remarkable - at what we can learn to live with. If we couldn't get strong from what we lose,… — John Irving Copy Share Image
I don't want you to describe to me—not ever—what you were doing to that poor boy to make him sound like that;… — John Irving Copy Share Image
What do Americans know about morality? They don't want their presidents to have penises but they don't mind if their presidents covertly… — John Irving Copy Share Image
The book works better if I know everything I can about the ending. Not just what happens, but how it happens and… — John Irving Copy Share Image
You don't want to dwell on your enemies, you know. I basically feel so superior to my critics for the simple reason… — John Irving Copy Share Image
If I had to be anything," he told her, "I'd probably be a socialist, but I don't want to be anything. — John Irving Copy Share Image
And I don't want to begin something, I don't want to write that first sentence until all the important connections in the… — John Irving Copy Share Image
Ambition robs you of your childhood. The moment you want to become an adult—in any way—something in your childhood dies. — 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
