John Irving Quotes
Quotes to Explore
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Let's judge a man on what he's done.
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I've read quite a few readers' reviews of my book on Amazon, saying, 'Ah, he criticises the free market, he advocates central planning.' I don't do that for a minute! But this is our black and white, dichotomous way of thinking - which has really been harmful.
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There is an expression now that is commonly used about these so-called internal conflicts which are not really internal, because they have connections to the outside world.
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I am a very loyal man and always keep my promises when I commit to something.
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It fits my ADD, so that's good. Because I really can't focus on anything for too long. And 'Top Gear's really the easiest thing to do because I'm with my pals. It's like coming home with my friends. We're having so much fun making the show.
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When I was a child, I did always feel that people were hiding things, and that they weren't expressing their true feelings. When adults are too complicated, and cover their emotions with layers of well-intentioned subterfuge, the child isn't seeing reality clearly enough and gets upset.
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Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby.
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On stage, you can use your emotions. It's the place where you can channel them. They have a purpose.
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Of course, relative citation frequencies are no measure of relative importance. Who has not aspired to write a paper so fundamental that very soon it is known to everyone and cited by no one?
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I simply wanted to get through college as quickly as humanly possible. I had no interest in extracurricular activities or anything that required me to be social. I was allergic to people.
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I guess the reality is, everybody today has so many gadgets.
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It's quite fun to mess with the human voice. It's quite special in the sense that the voice is the #1 instrument that we can connect with; it doesn't sound too alien. I think that's the key is to find the line between sounding human and sounding robotic. That's an area that I like to explore a lot.
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I don't think I'd like to be a different person. But I do sometimes see my cats lolling about and think it would be nice to be one of them.
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The fans treated me royally.
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I don't want to smoke on screen, as I will be sending a wrong message to my fans, and I appeal to my costars too, to avoid smoking scenes if possible.
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My role in the White House was grossly exaggerated by the press. Fortunately for the American people, when the president had to make a critical economic decision or a decision on a weapons system, he did not turn to me and say, 'Hamilton, what in the hell do I do?'
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'Theogony' should be read before the great Homeric epics because it gives an account of the cosmology that is taken for granted by Homer. It does for paganism what the Old Testament attempted to do for monotheism.
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I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.
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I have quite a lot of anxiety dreams.
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To hear the appreciation, the screams - that's what any of us need. We're at our best when we're wanted.
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If there is a God, whence proceed so many evils? If there is no God, whence cometh any good?
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I don't believe that there's a good guy and a bad guy. Unless it's like Superman or Batman, there is no good guy and bad guy.
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Incidentally, part of a photographer’s gift should be with people. You can do some wonderful work if you know how to make people understand what you’re doing and feel all right about it, and you can do terrible work if you put them on the defense, which they all are at the beginning. You’ve got to take them off their defensive attitude and make them participate.
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Good habits are worth being fanatical about.
