I don't want you to describe to meโnot everโwhat you were doing to that poor boy to make him sound like that; but if you ever do it again, please cover his mouth with your hand.
John IrvingBecause who can describe that look that triggers the memory of loved ones? Who can anticipate the frown, the smile, or the misplaced lock of hair that sends a swift, undeniable signal from the past? Who can ever estimate the power of association, which is always strongest in moments of love and in memories of death?
John IrvingYou don't have to be in the habit of going to church to listen to such a literary minister; you don't have to be a believer to be moved by Mr. Buechner's faith.
John IrvingI have stood aside to see the phantoms of those days go by me. They are gone, and I resume the journey of my story.โ (David Copperfield) โBut all that night he lay awake because the phantoms of those days were not gone. Like the tiny, terrible holes in the prophylactics, the phantoms of those days were not easy to detectโand their meaning was unknownโbut they were there.
John Irving