All John Irving Quotes
- 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… Angela
- The main character and the most important character are not always the same person - you have to know the difference. Character
- It doesn't really matter who said it - it's so obviously true. Before you can write anything, you have to notice something. Inspirational
- You don't want to dwell on your enemies, you know. I basically feel so superior to my critics for the simple reason that they haven't… Basically Feel
- I suppose I'm proudest of my novels for what's imagined in them. I think the world of my imagination is a richer and more interesting… Biographies
- Sometimes that's a year, sometimes it's 18 months, where all I'm doing is taking notes. I'm reconstructing the story from the back to the front… All
- The unspoken factor is love. The reason I can work so hard at my writing is that it's not work for me. Factor
- You think you have a memory; but it has you! Inspirational
- When I feel like being a director, I write a novel. Director
- If I have any advantage, maybe, as a writer, it is that I don't think I'm very interesting. I mean, beginning a novel with the… Advantage
- So, you see, it's a real chore for me to write a book review because it's like a contest. It's like I'm writing that book… Air
- Like many successful people he made good use of disappointments - responding to them with energy, with near-frenzied activity, rather than needing to recover from… Activity
- Your memory is a monster; it summons with will of its own. You think you have a memory, but it has you. Memories
- I have pretty thick skin, and I think if you're going to be in this business, if you're going to be an actor or a… Actor
- More than a half, maybe as much as two-thirds of my life as a writer is rewriting. I wouldn't say I have a talent that's… Half
- Good habits are worth being fanatical about. Fanatical
- I have a very poor record at multiple choice questions. Choice
- To each other, we were as normal and nice as the smell of bread. We were just a family. In a family even exaggerations make… Bread
- I take people very seriously. People are all I take seriously, in fact. Therefore, I have nothing but sympathy for how people behave - and… All
- I've always been a fan of the 19th century novel, of the novel that is plotted, character-driven, and where the passage of time is almost… Been