The building of the architecture of a novel - the craft of it - is something I never tire of.

Quote by John Irving

Topics: John Irving Quotes

I think the sport of wrestling, which I became involved with at the age of...

I think the sport of wrestling, which I became involved with at the age of...

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...

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....

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...

Half my life is an act of revision.

Half my life is an act of revision.

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 can't learn everything you need to know legally.

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

No adult in my family would ever tell me anything about who my father was....

No adult in my family would ever tell me anything about who my father was....

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,...

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

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

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.

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...

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'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...

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 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...

Oh FUCK the longings and agonies of youth.

Oh FUCK the longings and agonies of youth.

Youth comes but once in a lifetime

Youth comes but once in a lifetime

Young people don't know what age is, and old people forget what youth was

Young people don't know what age is, and old people forget what youth was

Older men declare war. But it is youth that must fight and die.

Older men declare war. But it is youth that must fight and die.