All John Irving Quotes
- 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
- I never know when I finish the novel I am writing which will be the next novel out of the station. Finish
- My old coach used to say that if you were in it for the match, if you were in it for the trophies, you were… Coach
- If you are lucky enough to find a way of life you love, you have to find the courage to live it. Amazing Life
- If you presume to love something, you must love the process of it much more than you love the finished product. Finished
- I think the sport of wrestling, which I became involved with at the age of 14... I competed until I was 34, kind of old… Age
- Your memory is a monster; you forget - it doesn't. It simply files things away. It keeps things for you, or hides things from you… Files
- You can't learn everything you need to know legally. Feet
- Half my life is an act of revision. Act
- And I find - I'm 63, and my capacity to be by myself and just spend time by myself hasn't diminished any. That's the necessary… Alone
- You've got to get obsessed and stay obsessed. Get Obsessed