John Winslow Irving is an American-Canadian novelist and screenwriter. Hope, our collection of John Irving Quotes will inspire you to live by the truth.
You’ve got to get obsessed and stay obsessed.
– John Irving
John Irving Quotes
1. “Imagining something is better than remembering something.” – John Irving
2. “Never confuse faith, or belief—of any kind—with something even remotely intellectual.” – John Irving
3. “We often need to lose sight of our priorities in order to see them.” – John Irving
4. “Of all the things you choose in life, you don’t get to choose what your nightmares are. You don’t pick them; they pick you.” – John Irving
5. “If you presume to love something, you must love the process of it much more than you love the finished product.” – John Irving
6. “Kids are perfect people till grownups get their hands on them.” – John Irving
7. “You can’t learn everything you need to know legally.” – John Irving
8. “If you care about something you have to protect it – If you’re lucky enough to find a way of life you love, you have to find the courage to live it.” – John Irving
9. “People only ask questions when they’re ready to hear the answers.” – John Irving
10. “It is hard work and great art to make life not so serious.” – John Irving
11. “You only grow by coming to the end of something and by beginning something else.” – John Irving
12. “The more clearly one sees this world; the more one is obliged to pretend it does not exist.” – John Irving
13. “We will often do anything to pretend that nothing is on our minds.” – John Irving
14. “Good habits are worth being fanatical about.” – John Irving
15. “If pride is a sin … moral pride is the greatest sin.” – John Irving
16. “Self-hatred is worse than loneliness.” – John Irving
17. “We are formed by what we desire.” – John Irving
18. “When however small a measure of jealousy is mixed with misunderstanding, there is always going to be trouble.” – John Irving
19. “If you don’t feel that you are possibly on the edge of humiliating yourself, of losing control of the whole thing, then probably what you are doing isn’t very vital.” – John Irving
20. “It’s not God who’s f****d up, it’s the screamers who say they believe in him and who claim to pursue their ends in his holy name.” – John Irving
21. “Writing a novel is actually searching for victims. As I write I keep looking for casualties. The stories uncover the casualties.” – John Irving
22. “Human sexuality makes farcical our most serious intentions.” – John Irving
23. “The way you define yourself as a writer is that you write every time you have a free minute. If you didn’t behave that way you would never do anything.” – John Irving
24. “Keep passing the open windows.” – John Irving
25. “Your memory is a monster; it summons with will of its own. You think you have a memory, but it has you.” – John Irving
26. “If we live long enough, we become caricatures of ourselves.” – John Irving
27. “The unspoken factor is love. The reason I can work so hard at my writing is that it’s not work for me.” – John Irving
28. “A writer’s job is to imagine everything so personally that the fiction is as vivid as memories.” – John Irving
29. “It’s not right to hurt or deceive someone who’s already been hurt and deceived.” – John Irving
30. “Watch out for people who call themselves religious; make sure you know what they mean––make sure they know what they mean!” – John Irving
31. “You can’t learn everything you need to know legally.” – John Irving
32. “There’s a lot of ignorance about how long it takes to write a novel. There’s a lot of ignorance about how long a novel is in your head before you start to write it.” – John Irving
33. “A personal injustice is stronger motivation than any instinct for philanthropy.” – John Irving
34. “I have learned that the consequences of our past actions are always interesting; I have learned to view the present with a forward-looking eye.” – John Irving
35. “There are always suicides among people who are unable to say what they mean.” – John Irving
36. “The lie, of course, is more interesting.” – John Irving
37. “Being afraid you’ll look like a coward is the worst reason for doing anything.” – John Irving
38. “Life is serious but art is fun!” – John Irving
39. “There’s no reason you shouldn’t, as a writer, not be aware of the necessity to revise yourself constantly.” – John Irving
40. “It’s because even a good man can’t always be right, that we need … rules.” – John Irving
