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 other. - John Irving

In this dirty minded world, you are either someone's wife or someone's whore.

The lie, of course, is more interesting.

And when Dr. Daruwalla breathed in her dangerous aroma, he thought he'd at last identified the smell of sex, which struck him as an earthy commingling of death and flowers

From Hester’s bedroom — even though the door was closed — we could hear her breathing; Hester’s breathing, when she’d been drinking, was something between a snore and a moan. “Why does she drink so much?” I asked Owen. “HESTER’S AHEAD OF HER TIME,” he said. “What’s that mean?” I asked him. “Do we have a generation of drunks to look forward to?” “WE HAVE A GENERATION OF PEOPLE WHO ARE ANGRY TO LOOK FORWARD TO,” Owen said. “AND MAYBE TWO GENERATIONS OF PEOPLE WHO DON’T GIVE A SHIT,” he added. “How do you know?” I asked him. “I DON’T KNOW HOW I KNOW,” said Owen Meany. “I JUST KNOW THAT I KNOW,” he said.