Home / Quotes / Quote by John Irving

Quote by John Irving

“The history of a city was like the history of a family—there is closeness and even affection, but death eventually separates everyone from each other. It is only the vividness of memory that keeps the dead alive forever; a writer’s job is to imagine everything so personally that the fiction is as vivid as our personal memories.”

Quote by John Irving

Book:The world according to Garp

Work

The world according to Garp

In this acclaimed novel, the narrative weaves together the personal and the historical, chronicling the life of T.S. Garp, a complex and intriguing figure who navigates the complexities of life and relationships. The story delves into the author's exploration of various themes, including the nature of storytelling and the impact of personal experiences on one's identity. more

Author

John Irving is an American novelist known for his intricate narrative structures and profound character development. His works often explore themes of family, love, morality, and identity, enjoying great popularity among readers. more

You May Also Like

“I don’t actually take much stock in the collapsing culture bit. I’m beginning to see it instead as the conduct of life without input from your soul.”

Soul Culture Bits Your Soul Input

Book:Collected Stories

Source: Collected Stories

“A good social system is not to be secured by making people unselfish, but, by making their own vital impulses fit in with other peoples. This is feasible. Those who have produced stoic philosophies have all had enough to eat and drink. I feel I shall find the truth on my deathbed and be surrounded by people too stupid to understand—fussing about medicines instead of searching for wisdom. I hate being all tidy like a book in a library where nobody reads – prison is horribly like that.”

People Feels Book Enough Philosophy Hate Social Stupid Fit Drink I Hate Medicine Prison Library Impulse Had Enough Secured Unselfish Deathbed Tidy Stoic Social Systems Fussing

Author:Bertrand Russell

“None of us could be happy for long, doing nothing.”

Long Doing Nothing

Book:Ender's Game

Source: Ender's Game

“Write about what really interests you, whether it is real things or imaginary things, and nothing else.”

Writing Real Interest Imaginary Real Things Imaginary Things

Author:C. S. Lewis

“I never know what I think about something until I read what I've written on it.”

Thinking Knows Writing Written

Author:William Faulkner

“It takes your enemy and your friend, working together, to hurt you to the heart: the one to slander you and the other to get the news to you.”

Heart Together Evil Friendship Hurt Enemy News Working Together Wickedness Slander Hurt Feelings Defamation Equator Wounded Heart

Author:Mark Twain

“I thought of the people before me who had looked down at the river and gone to sleep beneath it. I wondered about them. I wondered how they had done it--it, the physical act. I simply wondered about the dead because their days had ended and I did not know how I would get through mine.”

People Knows Done Sleep Know How Gone Mines Rivers

Author:James A. Baldwin

“How presumptuous they had both been never to consider growing old as an achievement and a challenge. Aging was something they'd both wanted so much to avoid.”

Wanted Challenges Growing Achievement Aging Growing Old Presumptuous

Author:Cecelia Ahern

“Life doesn't do anything to you. It only reveals your spirit.”

Spirit Growth Leadership

Book:The Power of Thinking Big

Source: The Power of Thinking Big

“She didn't feel thirty. But then again again, what was being thirty supposed to feel like? When she was younger, thirty seemed so far away, she thought that a woman of that age would be so wise and knowledgeable, so settled in her life with a husband and children and a career. She had none of those things. She still felt as clueless as she had felt when she was twenty, only with a few more gray hairs and crow's feet around her eyes.”

Feels Children Stills Would Be Eye Age Felt Careers Wise Feet Hair Husband Twenties Thirty Gray Far Away Her Eyes Crow Knowledgeable Clueless Gray Hair

Book:PS, I Love You: A Novel

Source: PS, I Love You: A Novel