Our memory is a monster; you forget it - it does not. John Irving More Quotes by John Irving More Quotes From John Irving when however small a measure of jealousy is mixed with misunderstanding, there is always going to be trouble. John Irving misunderstandingtrouble My life as a writer consists of 1/8 talent and 7/8 discipline. John Irving talentdisciplinemotivation Owen meany who rarely wasted words and who had the conversation-stopping habit of dropping remarks like coins into a deep pool of water... remarks that sank, like truth, to the bottom of the pool where they would remain untouchable. John Irving stoppingcoinswater Just because you're sober, don't think you're a good driver, Cookie. John Irving sobercookiesthinking If I had to be anything," he told her, "I'd probably be a socialist, but I don't want to be anything. John Irving socialistifswant Everyone has a right to be a little happy, asshole. John Irving littles The gardener had a dread of small women; he'd always imagined them to have an anger disproportionate to their size. John Irving gardenersizedread This was not of the nature of a Christlike lesson for Owen Meany to learn, as he lay in the manger, that someone you hate can give you a hard-on. John Irving lessonshategiving Life forces enough final decisions on us. We should have the sense to avoid as many of the unnecessary ones as we can. John Irving finalsdecisionshould-have Don't forget this, too: Rumors aren't interested in the unsensational story; rumors don't care what's true. John Irving rumorcarestories And I don't want to begin something, I don't want to write that first sentence until all the important connections in the novel are known to me. As if the story has already taken place, and it's my responsibility to put it in the right order to tell it to you. John Irving takenresponsibilitywriting I had been a student in Vienna, and one of the neat little things I had found out was about that zoo. It was a good debut novel for me to have published. I was 26 or 27 when it was published. I already had a kid and would soon have a second. John Irving viennazooskids Life is an X-rated soap opera. John Irving soapoperalife-is I have learned that the consequences of our past actions are always interesting; I have learned to view the present with a forward-looking eye. John Irving eyeviewspast The excitement of anticipation was *almost* equal to the thrill of lovemaking. John Irving excitementthrillanticipation He had heard her say, so many times, that a society that approved of making abortion illegal was a society that approved of violence against women; that making abortion illegal was simply a sanctimonious, self-righteous form of violence against women- it was just another way of legalizing violence against women, Nurse Caroline would say. John Irving abortionselfnurse She sat keenly white and still among them, a witness to everything--maybe determining nothing, possibly judging it all. John Irving satjudgingwhite Newspapers are even worse for me than ice cream; headlines, and the big issues that generate the headlines, are pure fat. John Irving ice-creamissuesnewspapers I want to go on being a student," I told him. "I want to be a teacher. I'm just a reader," I said. "DON'T SOUND SO ASHAMED," he said. "READING IS A GIFT." "I learned it from you," I told him. "IT DOESN'T MATTER WHERE YOU LEARNED IT- IT'S A GIFT. IF YOU CARE ABOUT SOMETHING, YOU HAVE TO PROTECT IT. IF YOU'RE LUCKY ENOUGH TO FIND A WAY OF LIFE YOU LOVE, YOU HAVE TO FIND THE COURAGE TO LIVE IT. John Irving readinglove-youteacher Nothing bears out in practice what it promises incipiently. John Irving practicebearspromise
