You know, people think you have to be dumb to skip rope for 45 minutes. No, you have to be able to imagine something else. While you're skipping rope, you have to be able to see something else.

Quote by John Irving

Topics: John Irving Quotes

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....

Half my life is an act of revision.

Half my life is an act of revision.

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.

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...

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...

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...

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 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...

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...

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...

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....

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...

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

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

You've got to get obsessed and stay obsessed.

You've got to get obsessed and stay obsessed.

Oh FUCK the longings and agonies of youth.

Oh FUCK the longings and agonies of youth.

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...

The only people available to change the world are the people now living in it,...

The only people available to change the world are the people now living in it,...

Without God, you can do nothing. With God there is nothing you cannot do.

Without God, you can do nothing. With God there is nothing you cannot do.

On a scale of 1 to Adele, how tough was your breakup?

On a scale of 1 to Adele, how tough was your breakup?

The excursion is the same when you go looking for your sorrow as when you...

The excursion is the same when you go looking for your sorrow as when you...