You only grow by coming to the end of something and by beginning something else.

In the world according to her father, Jenny Garp knew, we must have energy. Her famous grandmother, Jenny Fields, once thought of us as Externals, Vital Organs, Absentees, and Goners. But in the world according to Garp, we are all terminal cases.

I'm not proselytizing my method. I don't believe that one writer should tell other writers how to write.

Life forces enough final decisions on us. We should have the sense to avoid as many of the unnecessary ones as we can.

What was even more germane was my study of the history of religion. It was one of the few things in school I was fascinated by.

I thought some of the stories were neat; I liked some of the liturgy and some of the songs. If you're a writer you have some inclination to pay attention. I didn't just tune it out and think about baseball. So, it had an effect on me.

It was one of those ridiculous arrangements that couples make when they are separating, but before they are divorced - when they still imagine that children and property can be shared with more magnanimity than recrimination.