John Irving Quotes

His resolve was blown as quickly as the rest of him.

Watch out for people who call themselves religious; make sure you know what they mean—make sure they know what they mean!

That’s what I love about boys,” Marion told him. “No matter what, you just go about your business.

There’s nothing I need or want to know from the writers I admire that isn’t in their books. It’s better to read a good writer than meet one.

Did anyone who was in love and was unsatisfied with how he was loved in return ever feel saved?

Logic is relative.

The kind of people claiming to be in communication with God today … they are enough to drive a real Christian crazy!

Garp discovered that when you are writing something, everything seems related to everything else.

…there was no more safety to be found in love than there was to be found in a virus.

A woman half dressed seemed to have some power, but a man was simply not as handsome as when he was naked, and not as secure as when he was clothed.

THAT'S WHAT POWERFUL MEN DO TO THIS COUNTRY - IT'S A BEAUTIFUL, SEXY, BREATHLESS COUNTRY, AND POWERFUL MEN USE IT TO TREAT THEMSELVES TO A THRILL! THEY SAY THEY LOVE IT BUT THEY DON'T MEAN IT. THEY SAY THINGS TO MAKE THEMSELVES APPEAR GOOD - THEY MAKE THEMSELVES APPEAR MORAL...THE COUNTRY WANTS A SAVIOUR. THE COUNTRY IS A SUCKER FOR POWERFUL MEN WHO LOOK GOOD. WE THINK THEY'RE MORALISTS AND THEN THEY JUST USE US.

It seemed to Dr. Daruwalla that his story was the opposite of universal; his story was simply strange - the doctor himself was singularly foreign.

You only grow by coming to the end of something and by beginning something else.

Kids are perfect people till grownups get their hands on them.

What worse awareness is there than to know there would have been a better outcome if you'd never done anything at all?