No adult in my family would ever tell me anything about who my father was. I knew from an older cousin - only four years older than I am - everything, or what little I could discover about him.

Quote by John Irving

Topics: John Irving Quotes

You don't want to dwell on your enemies, you know. I basically feel so superior...

You don't want to dwell on your enemies, you know. I basically feel so superior...

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...

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....

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...

I had been a student in Vienna, and one of the neat little things I...

I had been a student in Vienna, and one of the neat little things I...

You've got to get obsessed and stay obsessed.

You've got to get obsessed and stay obsessed.

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 know, people think you have to be dumb to skip rope for 45 minutes....

You know, people think you have to be dumb to skip rope for 45 minutes....

To each other, we were as normal and nice as the smell of bread. We...

To each other, we were as normal and nice as the smell of bread. We...

I've always been a fan of the 19th century novel, of the novel that is...

I've always been a fan of the 19th century novel, of the novel that is...

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...

Oh FUCK the longings and agonies of youth.

Oh FUCK the longings and agonies of youth.

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.

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....

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....

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...

You've got to get obsessed and stay obsessed.

You've got to get obsessed and stay obsessed.

Half my life is an act of revision.

Half my life is an act of revision.

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

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

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...