List of John Irving Quotes

We have put together a list of some of the best Quotes that Written by John Irving

John Irving
Total Quotes 307
I don't begin a novel until i have written, not just the last sentence, but usually, as a result thereof, many of the surrounding final paragraphs, so that in addition to knowing what happens, i know what the voice is.
Voice Knowing Finals
I'm not proselytizing my method. i don't believe that one writer should tell other writers how to write.
Believe Writing Should
I believe in plot, in development of character, in the effect of the passage of time, in a good story - better than something you might find in the newspaper. and i believe a novel should be as complicated and involved as you're capable of making it.
Believe Character Plot
I have always believed that, in a story, if something traumatic or calamitous enough happens to a kid at a formative age, that will make him or her the adult they become.
Kids Age Adults
You don't want to be ungenerous toward people who give you prizes, but it is never the social or political message that interests me in a novel. i begin with an interest in a relationship, a situation, a character.
Character People Giving
I'm not at all contemporary, not even modern, and the fact that i would be so quaintly attracted to that wrestling rule makes me, i suppose, seem all the more old-fashioned. i believe in rules of behavior, and i'm quite interested in stories about the consequences of breaking those rules.
Believe Wrestling Would Be
I'm a worst-case scenario person. i'm only interested in a story because i kind of go, like a magnet, to the worst thing that can happen.
Worst Case Scenario Stories Kind
If you asked me one day, i might say, "well, sometimes i feel a little bit religious." if you asked me another day, i'd just say flat out, "no."
Religious One Day Another Day
Ted seabrooke, my wrestling coach, had a kind of nietzschean effect on me in terms of not just his estimation of my limited abilities, but his decidedly philosophical stance about how to conduct your life, what you should do to compensate for your limitations. this was essential to me, both as a student - and not a good one - and as a wrestler who was not a natural athlete but who had found something he loved.
Philosophical Wrestling Athlete
It seems to me that a great deal of this type of censorship has to do with absolving parents of responsibility - parents who just plop their kids in front of the television and leave them there hour upon hour.
Kids Responsibility Parent
If you feel strongly about people having abortions, don't have one.
People Abortion Feels
I grew up in a family where, through my teenage years, i was expected to go to church on sunday. it wasn't terribly painful.
Teenage Sunday Years
  • Born: March 2, 1942
  • Occupation: Novelist
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