A truly happy woman drives some men and almost every other woman absolutely crazy — John Irving Copy Share Image
The only way you get Americans to notice anything is to tax them or draft them or kill them. — John Irving Americans Copy Share Image
“Jenny Fields felt undone, the way only a person who has been careful can feel when confronted by a mistake.” — John Irving Failure Copy Share Image
“Of course, apologies are rarely acceptable to true believers - or to anyone who believes in *pure* good, or in pure evil.” — John Irving Apologies Copy Share Image
“Once again, Jack reached for her hand. It was the only thing he knew how to do. As it would turn out,… — John Irving Heart 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… — John Irving Change Copy Share Image
“...it was a feeling with nowhere to go. Was that what love was, and how it came to you--leaving you no options… — John Irving Copy Share Image
Nearly everything seems a letdown after a writer has finished writing something. — John Irving Letdown Copy Share Image
Owen Meany believed that “coincidence” was a stupid, shallow refuge sought by stupid, shallow people who were unable to accept the fact… — John Irving Copy Share Image
“Hang in there, Frank!' Freud called - to the entire lobby. 'Don't let anyone tell you you're queer! You're a prince, Frank!'… — John Irving Copy Share Image
“You are my work of art," Wilbur Larch told Homer Wells. "Everything else has just been a job. I don't know if… — John Irving Art Copy Share Image
I think better of our behaviour as individuals than I do when we see ourselves as members of a group. It's when… — John Irving Art form Copy Share Image
“Of course, if I write a first-person novel about a woman writer, I am inviting every book reviewer to apply the autobiographical… — John Irving Autobiographical Copy Share Image
I don't begin a novel until I have written, not just the last sentence, but usually, as a result thereof, many of… — John Irving Books Copy Share Image
I have a friend who says that reviewers are the tickbirds of the literary rhinoceros-but he is being kind. Tickbirds perform a… — John Irving Copy Share Image
“It was not the cold that made you want to rush out as soon as you'd jumped in; it was the unmeasured… — John Irving Fear Copy Share Image
“Ah, well..." I started to say, and then stopped. So that was where he was going; I'd heard it before. Richard had… — John Irving Intolerance Copy Share Image
Here in St. Cloud’s,” Dr. Larch wrote, “ I have been given the choice of playing God or leaving practically everything up… — John Irving Copy Share Image
“AND LOOK AT WHAT WE CALL ‘RELIGION’: TURN ON ANY TELEVISION ON ANY SUNDAY MORNING! SEE THE CHOIRS OF THE POOR AND… — John Irving Church and state Copy Share Image
“As often as I feel certain that God exists, I feel as often at a loss to say what difference it makes—that… — John Irving Believe in god Copy Share Image
“Among these contemptuous women, poor Germaine had the disadvantage of being young--and almost pretty, in a shy, mousy way. She possessed the… — John Irving Copy Share Image
“Six-Pack didn't despise George W. Bush to the degree that Ketchum did, but she thought the president was a smirking twerp and… — John Irving America Copy Share Image
“Melony put herself straight to bed without her dinner. Mrs. Grogan, worried about her, went to Melony’s bed and felt her forehead,… — John Irving Secret love Copy Share Image
I have stood aside to see the phantoms of those days go by me. They are gone, and I resume the journey… — John Irving Copy Share Image
“don't worry - so what if there is no life after death? There is life after Garp, believe me.” — John Irving Death Copy Share Image
I wasn't afraid of anything until I had a kid. Then I was terrified because immediately I could imagine a hundred ways… — John Irving Copy Share Image
“Like any good novel, it lulled him into an almost tranquil state of awareness before it jolted him - it caught him… — John Irving Books Copy Share Image
“people can’t, unhappily, invent their mooring posts, their lovers and their friends, anymore than they can invent their parents.” — John Irving Child 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 Books Copy Share Image
“I TRUST THAT GOD WILL HELP ME, BECAUSE WHAT I’M SUPPOSED TO DO LOOKS VERY HARD.” — John Irving Faith Copy Share Image
“I'll tell you what's wrong with dumb-shit patriotism--it's delusional! It signifies nothing but the American need to win” — John Irving Copy Share Image
There are few things as seemingly untouched by the real world as a child asleep. — John Irving Asleep Copy Share Image
“It seemed to Dr. Daruwalla that his story was the opposite of universal; his story was simply strange - the doctor himself… — John Irving Copy Share Image
“DON’T GIVE IT ANOTHER THOUGHT,” he said. “WE’RE PALS, AREN’T WE? WHAT ARE FRIENDS FOR? I’LL NEVER LEAVE YOU.” — John Irving Friend Copy Share Image
I'm not writing non-fiction. I don't feel anything about me as a kid was unique. Except that I had more interest in… — John Irving Copy Share Image
She sat keenly white and still among them, a witness to everything--maybe determining nothing, possibly judging it all. — John Irving Heart Copy Share Image
I believe that, in any novel of mine, the principal objective is the construction of the whole. — John Irving Copy Share Image
I always begin with a character or characters, and then try to think up as much action for them as possible. — John Irving Action Copy Share Image
“...return trips, to this day...are simply invitations to dull trances or leaden slumber,” — John Irving Copy Share Image
“Good night you Kings of New England. You Princes of Maine." Who knows what book this quote comes from?” — John Irving Books Copy Share Image
