I do know where I'm going and it's just a matter of finding the language to get there. John Irving More Quotes by John Irving More Quotes From John Irving When I feel like being a director, I write a novel. John Irving novelwritingdirectors I'm not a movie person. They're collaborations of the worst kind. You must compromise yourself to many interests that are venal and crass and do not have your best interests at heart. John Irving collaborationcompromiseheart I think that writers are, at best, outsiders to the society they inhabit. They have a kind of detachment, or try to have. John Irving outsiderstryingthinking Nothing moves at the Hotel New Hampshire! We're screwed down here-for life! John Irving hampshirehotelmoving O God — please give him back! I shall keep asking You. John Irving pleaseaskinggiving You don't have to be in the habit of going to church to listen to such a literary minister; you don't have to be a believer to be moved by Mr. Buechner's faith. John Irving ministershabitchurch Half my life is an act of revision; more than half the act is performed with small changes. John Irving small-changesrevisionhalf Life," Garp wrote, "is sadly not structured like a good old-fashioned novel. Instead an end occurs when those who are meant to peter out have petered out. All that is left is memory. But even a nihilist has memory. John Irving nihilistendsmemories It is an important distinction to note that she looked not only as if she had taken good care of herself, but that she had good reason to have done so. (...) She looked to be in such total possession of her life that only the most confident men could continue to look at her if she looked back at them. Even in bus stations, she was a woman who was stared at only until she looked back. John Irving importanttakenmen I've always been a fan of the 19th century novel, of the novel that is plotted, character-driven, and where the passage of time is almost as central to the novel as a major minor character, the passage of time and its effect on the characters in the story. John Irving fansstoriescharacter Just when you begin thinking of yourself as memorable, you run into someone who can't even remember having met you John Irving memorablerunningthinking I never know when I finish the novel I am writing which will be the next novel out of the station. John Irving nextnovelwriting My old coach used to say that if you were in it for the match, if you were in it for the trophies, you were in it for the wrong reasons. John Irving trophiesusedreason It was one of those ridiculous arrangements that couples make when they are separating, but before they are divorced - when they still imagine that children and property can be shared with more magnanimity than recrimination. John Irving divorcecouplechildren People only ask questions when they're ready to hear the answers. John Irving readyanswerspeople When Jack Burns needed to hold his mother's hand, his fingers could see in the dark. John Irving mommotherdark Here in St. Cloud’s,” Dr. Larch wrote, “ I have been given the choice of playing God or leaving practically everything up to chance. It is my experience that practically everything is left up to chance much of the time; men who believe in good and evil, and who believe that good should win, should watch for those moments when it is possible to play God – we should seize those moments. There won’t be may John Irving winningmenbelieve They all settled into being the kind of friends when they heard from each other.... or when they occasionally got together. And when they were not in touch, they did not think of one another. John Irving kindtogetherthinking There is no straightforward negotiation with a four year old. John Irving negotiationfouryears To each other, we were as normal and nice as the smell of bread. We were just a family. In a family even exaggerations make perfect sense. John Irving familynicefood
