“At times, he admitted, he had been very happy in the apple business. He knew what Larch would have told him: that… — John Irving Business Copy Share Image
“You know, it's not only writers who have this problem, but writers really, really have this problem; for us, a so-called train… — John Irving Train of thought Copy Share Image
You don't have to be in the habit of going to church to listen to such a literary minister; you don't have… — John Irving Believer Copy Share Image
“There were those apres-sex moments when, in a half-asleep or forgetting that I was with a woman, I would reach out and… — John Irving Time Copy Share Image
I don't think I've had a very interesting life, and I feel that is a great liberation. That gives me great freedom… — John Irving Copy Share Image
“Your disapproval is noted. It is legitimate. You are welcome to disapprove. But you are not welcome to be ignorant, to look… — John Irving Disapproval Copy Share Image
“This mannerism of what he'd seen of society struck Homer Wells quite forcefully; people, even nice people—because, surely, Wally was nice—would say… — John Irving Criticism Copy Share Image
“Ever since the Christmas of '53, I have felt that the yuletide is a special hell for those families who have suffered… — John Irving Christmas 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
“It is the well educated who will improve society—and they will improve it, at first, by criticizing it, and we are giving… — John Irving Education Copy Share Image
“As for my faith: I've become my father's son-that is, I've become the kind of believer that Pastor Merrill used to be.… — John Irving Believer Copy Share Image
Before I began The Cider House Rules, I thought I wanted to write about a father-son relationship that was closer, more conflicted,… — John Irving Copy Share Image
“Unlike Alice, Garp was a real writer —not because he wrote more beautifully than she wrote but because he knew what every… — John Irving Writing Copy Share Image
“Ronkers was getting out of the elevator on the first floor when the intercom paged 'Dr Heart'. There was no Dr Heart… — John Irving Humor Copy Share Image
It is an important distinction to note that she looked not only as if she had taken good care of herself, but… — John Irving Copy Share Image
“That was when I first began to think about certain events or specific things being "important" and having "special purpose." Until then,… — John Irving Believe in god Copy Share Image
Grant us safe lodging, and holy rest,” Mrs. Grogan was saying, “and peace at last.” Amen, thought Wilbur Larch, the Saint of… — John Irving Copy Share Image
In this world,” Franny once observed, “just as you’re trying to think of yourself as memorable, there is always someone who forgets… — John Irving Copy Share Image
“And so this added consideration - that she never get pregnant - contributed to the moderation of their coupling, which was almost… — John Irving Consideration Copy Share Image
“What would Miss Frost have thought of me? I wondered; I didn't mean my writing . What would she have thought of… — John Irving Men and women 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
“to burn itself on a funeral pyre and then rise up from its own ashes. Under the drawing, Owen had written: “OFTEN… — John Irving Death Copy Share Image
“I must part with you for my whole life," she read, with horror. "I must begin a new existence amongst strange faces… — John Irving Books Copy Share Image
I believe in plot, in development of character, in the effect of the passage of time, in a good story - better… — John Irving Copy Share Image
I'm not at all contemporary, not even modern, and the fact that I would be so quaintly attracted to that wrestling rule… — John Irving Behavior Copy Share Image
“Ruth Cole was a novelist; novelists are not at their best when they go off half-cocked. She believed that she would prepare… — John Irving Humor Copy Share Image
“But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead …’” Pastor Merrill assured us. “‘For as by a man came death,… — John Irving Resurrection 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
Religious freedom should work two ways: we should be free to practice the religion of our choice, but we must also be… — John Irving Choices Copy Share Image
“Further along” is fairly specific compared to other New Hampshire forms of directions; we don’t enjoy giving directions in New Hampshire—we tend… — John Irving Giving directions Copy Share Image
“Although he knew all the best — or, at least, the least boring — stories in the Bible, Mr. Merrill was most… — John Irving Bible Copy Share Image
Grown-ups shouldn’t finish books they’re not enjoying. When you’re no longer a child, and you no longer live at home, you don’t… — John Irving Book Copy Share Image
“Wallace Worthington would have reminded Wilbur Larch of someone he might have met at the Channing-Peabodys’, where Dr. Larch went to perform… — John Irving Nobility Copy Share Image
“... the surprised bookseller, whose name (inexplicably) was Mendelssohn. He was no relation to the German composer, and this Mendelssohn either overliked… — 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
“Anne-Elisabeth had taken the music from Dr. Horvath and was looking through it. 'I see finger-cramping possibilities, William - lots of them,'… — John Irving Music Copy Share Image
Know the story before you fall in love with your first sentence. If you don’t know the story before you begin the… — John Irving Copy Share Image
“At Owen Meany’s burial, one of Owen’s Sunday school classmates remembers how easy he was to lift up. “He was so light—he… — John Irving Owen Meany 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… — John Irving Copy Share Image
Owen meany who rarely wasted words and who had the conversation-stopping habit of dropping remarks like coins into a deep pool of… — John Irving Copy Share Image
