I think the sport of wrestling, which I became involved with at the age of 14... I competed until I was 34, kind of old for a contact sport. I coached the sport until I was 47. I think the…

Quote by John Irving

Topics: John Irving Quotes

There's no reason you should write any novel quickly.

There's no reason you should write any novel quickly.

Sigmund Freud was a novelist with a scientific background. He just didn't know he was...

Sigmund Freud was a novelist with a scientific background. He just didn't know he was...

Half my life is an act of revision.

Half my life is an act of revision.

And I don't want to begin something, I don't want to write that first sentence...

And I don't want to begin something, I don't want to write that first sentence...

Your memory is a monster; you forget - it doesn't. It simply files things away....

Your memory is a monster; you forget - it doesn't. It simply files things away....

Sometimes that's a year, sometimes it's 18 months, where all I'm doing is taking notes....

Sometimes that's a year, sometimes it's 18 months, where all I'm doing is taking notes....

I take people very seriously. People are all I take seriously, in fact. Therefore, I...

I take people very seriously. People are all I take seriously, in fact. Therefore, I...

You can't learn everything you need to know legally.

You can't learn everything you need to know legally.

I don't begin a novel or a screenplay until I know the ending. And I...

I don't begin a novel or a screenplay until I know the ending. And I...

You've got to get obsessed and stay obsessed.

You've got to get obsessed and stay obsessed.

Writing a novel is actually searching for victims. As I write I keep looking for...

Writing a novel is actually searching for victims. As I write I keep looking for...

There are few things as seemingly untouched by the real world as a child asleep.

There are few things as seemingly untouched by the real world as a child asleep.

More than a half, maybe as much as two-thirds of my life as a writer...

More than a half, maybe as much as two-thirds of my life as a writer...

The building of the architecture of a novel - the craft of it - is...

The building of the architecture of a novel - the craft of it - is...

There's no reason you shouldn't, as a writer, not be aware of the necessity to...

There's no reason you shouldn't, as a writer, not be aware of the necessity to...

Oh FUCK the longings and agonies of youth.

Oh FUCK the longings and agonies of youth.

I have pretty thick skin, and I think if you're going to be in this...

I have pretty thick skin, and I think if you're going to be in this...

When I was still in prep school - 14, 15 - I started keeping notebooks,...

When I was still in prep school - 14, 15 - I started keeping notebooks,...

And I find - I'm 63, and my capacity to be by myself and just...

And I find - I'm 63, and my capacity to be by myself and just...

I take people very seriously. People are all I take seriously, in fact. Therefore, I...

I take people very seriously. People are all I take seriously, in fact. Therefore, I...