What a phrase that is: 'that explains everything!' I know better than to think anything 'explains everything' today.

It is much easier to be flexible about where a story begins than it ever was for me to change my mind about where and how a story ended.

I think that was when the headmaster realized he had lost; he realized then that he was finished. Because, what could he do? Was he going to tell us to stop praying? We kept our heads bowed; and we kept praying. Even as awkward as he was, the Rev. Mr. Merrill had made it clear to us that there was no end to praying for Owen Meany.

If you asked me one day, I might say, "Well, sometimes I feel a little bit religious." If you asked me another day, I'd just say flat out, "No."

. . .There are moments when time does stop. We must be alert enough to notice such moments . . .

If you don't feel that you are possibly on the edge of humiliating yourself, of losing control of the whole thing, then probably what you are doing isn't very vital.

Garp drank the beer and wondered if everything was an anticlimax.