What do Americans know about morality? They don't want their presidents to have penises but they don't mind if their presidents covertly arrange to support the Nicaraguan rebel forces after Congress has restricted such aid; they don't want their presidents to deceive their wives but they don't mind if their presidents deceive Congress- lie to the people and violate the people's constitution!
John IrvingBe serious. Life hurts. Reflect what hurts. I don't mean that you can't also be funny, or have fun, but at the end of the day, stories are about what you lose.
John IrvingFor most of my life, when I've finished the book I'm writing, there've always been as many as two or three other novels waiting to be written next. And the decision driving which one of them it should be was never based on how long it had waited or how many accumulated pages of notes I had.
John IrvingIt seems to me that people who donโt learn as easily as others suffer from a kind of learning disabilityโthere is something different about the way they comprehend unfamiliar materialโbut I fail to see how this disability is improved by psychiatric consultation. What seems to be lacking is a technical ability that those of us called โgood studentsโ are born with. Someone should concretely study these skills and teach them. What does a shrink have to do with the process?
John Irving