but good friends are nothing to each other if they are not supportive. — John Irving Friend Copy Share Image
It's because even a good man can't always be right, that we need ... rules. — John Irving Good man Copy Share Image
It's not right to hurt or deceive someone who's already been hurt and deceived. — John Irving Been hurt Copy Share Image
I'm a worst-case scenario person. I'm only interested in a story because I kind of go, like a magnet, to the worst… — John Irving Copy Share Image
A woman half dressed seemed to have some power, but a man was simply not as handsome as when he was naked,… — John Irving Copy Share Image
“In this dirty-minded world you are either somebody's wife or somebody's whore, or fast on your way to becoming one or the… — John Irving Marriage Copy Share Image
“Many things the gods achieve beyond our judgement,'" said the sorrowful girl. "'What we thought is not confirmed and what we thought… — John Irving Faith Copy Share Image
I never wanted my kids to feel I was more interested in anything I was doing than I was in them. — John Irving Copy Share Image
“What do they expect of a one-eyed, one-armed artist-- and the son of Garp? No flaws?” — John Irving Artist Copy Share Image
“It was from just a few sentences that a writer learned anything from another writer.” — John Irving Learning Copy Share Image
“IF SOME PREACHER’S AN ASSHOLE, THAT’S NOT PROOF THAT GOD DOESN’T EXIST! (page 286)” — John Irving Preacher Copy Share Image
As many times as I've seen 'The Merchant of Venice,' I always take Shylock's side. For all the hatred that guy is… — John Irving Copy Share Image
“Look at the world: look at how many of our peerless leaders presume to tell us that they know what God wants!… — John Irving Leadership Copy Share Image
“And what were the rules at St. Cloud's? What were Larch's rules? Which rules did Dr. Larch observe, which ones did he… — John Irving Civilization Copy Share Image
“I had acquired an undeniable mystique - if only to the Bancroft butt-room boys. Don't forget: Miss Frost was an older woman,… — John Irving Copy Share Image
“in the hospital, Jenny Fields felt she was making up for lost time; she was discovering that people weren't much more mysterious,… — John Irving Heart Copy Share Image
“If (a writer) has applied himself to an art for 15 or 20 years and they’ve gotten good at it, and they’re… — John Irving Art Copy Share Image
“Writing a novel is actually searching for victims. As I write I keep looking for casualties. The stories uncover the casualties." (Interview… — John Irving Books Copy Share Image
“The White House, that whole criminal mob, those arrogant goons who see themselves as justified to operate above the law-they disgrace democracy… — John Irving Crime Copy Share Image
“She asserted that the best fictional detail was a chosen detail, not a remembered one - for fictional truth was not only… — John Irving Fiction writing 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 Ashamed Copy Share Image
If you are careful,' Garp wrote, 'if you use good ingredients, and you don't take any shortcuts, then you can usually cook… — John Irving Care Copy Share Image
I'm not typing. I write only by longhand. I've always written first drafts by hand and then once I was into a… — John Irving Copy Share Image
“will tell you what is my overriding perception of the last twenty years: that we are a civilization careening toward a succession… — John Irving Death Copy Share Image
“When he and Wally stopped laughing, Homer said, ‘I’ve never seen the ocean, you know.’ ‘Candy, did you hear that?’ Wally asked,… — John Irving Humor Copy Share Image
“The Winkles were in the business of manufacturing sensations for people who were so removed from any sensations of their own making… — John Irving Business Copy Share Image
“It galls me that seeking out the seedy, the sordid, the sexual, and the deviant is the expected (if not altogether acceptable)… — John Irving Courage Copy Share Image
“Isn't it amazing? The Americans have so many good afterthoughts!” — John Irving America Copy Share Image
“I didn't try to say the penis word for Elaine. "Cock," I said to her.” — John Irving Copy Share Image
He also knew that rivals are best unmanned by being ignored. — John Irving Being ignored Copy Share Image
