No one could have fathomed what a life he'd led, for it was chiefly a life lived in his mind.
John IrvingWhereas she wished more of the population were better educated, she also believed that education was largely wasted on the majority of the people she met.
John IrvingIf you presume to love something, you must love the process of it much more than you love the finished product.
John IrvingMaybe television causes cancer, Garp thinks; but his real irritation is a writer's irritation: he knows that wherever the TV glows, there sits someone who isn't reading.
John IrvingEvery American should be forced to live outside the United States for a year or two. Americans should be forced to see how ridiculous they appear to the rest of the world! They should listen to someone else's version of themselves--to anyone else's version! Every country knows more about America than Americans know about themselves! And Americans know absolutely nothing about any other country!
John Irving