John Irving Quotes

You've got to get obsessed and stay obsessed.

John Irving

• Previous
• Next

Quotes to Explore

• The law of sacrifice is uniform throughout the world. To be effective it demands the sacrifice of the bravest and the most spotless.

  

  Mahatma Gandhi
  • World
  • Law
  • Sacrifice

• A new idea - whether it's a way to collect solar energy more efficiently or a cheaper way to desalinate sea water or a new seed to boost the amount of food we can grow - can stretch the physical resources we have, or even multiply them. And the ideas themselves don't ever wear out.

  

  Ramez Naam
  • Energy
  • Food
  • Water

• I've lived in New York for a really long time.

  

  Famke Janssen
  • Time
  • Long
  • New York

• Getting pummelled is better than not playing anything at all.

  

  Laura Robson
  • Better
  • Playing
  • Getting

• It's always interesting about God because it's like all of the religions in the world say that they pray to the same God, and yet they ask that same one God to divide itself up and agree with this one and fight against that one.

  

  Wayne Dyer
  • Up
  • World
  • God

• The Secure Fence Act, which authorizes the construction of 700 miles of security barriers along the southwest border, has now been sent to President Bush for his signature. This piece of legislation is an important piece of the border security puzzle.

  

  Randy Neugebauer
  • Important
  • Fence
  • Construction

• I don't think you'll ever be happy about anything unless you've done it.

  

  Gary Barlow Take That
  • Done
  • Happy
  • Think

• I've never been one to want to be the center of attention and be put up on stages every night. That's just not really my personality. I'm comfortable with it now, but my real passion is being creative.

  

  Flume
  • Up
  • Real
  • Night

• In general, I would say I'm probably a little more conscious of looking after my skin since I moved to L.A.

  

  Yvonne Strahovski
  • Say
  • Looking
  • Skin

• The main characters for 'The Seer and the Sword' made an appearance one night and then haunted me for over five years before I began to write them down. Does that count as inspiration? For me, characters tend to show up, stay on to help with the work of writing their stories, and then occasionally deign to visit after a book is finished.

  

  Victoria Hanley
  • Writing
  • Book
  • Inspiration

• I think, if I'm doing my job correctly, I'm presenting a scenario for you as the reader to engage with on your own. I mean, that's what the best art is supposed to do. It's not supposed to be political. I think if you read all my books, you know where I stand, pretty much.

  

  T. C. Boyle
  • Art
  • Job
  • Pretty

• Having grown up as a young Army officer in the Vietnam era, I had an instinctual sort of notion that you have to look very carefully and weigh very carefully what anyone says.

  

  Jack Reed
  • Up
  • Look
  • Young

• I'm not looking for a 'yes' woman, but a strong person who knows when to be objective and when not to be.

  

  OMI
  • Strong
  • Woman
  • Looking

• I read my first P.G. Wodehouse when I was 12.

  

  Mallory Ortberg
  • First
  • Read

• 'Matterhorn' is my metaphor of the Vietnam War - we built it, we abandoned it, we assaulted it, we lost, and then we abandoned it again.

  

  Karl Marlantes
  • War
  • Lost
  • Vietnam War

• Agave nectar is a good substitute for refined sugars. It has a relatively low glycaemic index, which means it doesn't cause quick rises in blood sugar levels. It also has a nice, mild flavour.

  

  Yotam Ottolenghi
  • Good
  • Nice
  • Blood

• I must go deeper and even stronger into my treasure mine and stint nothing of time, toil, or torture.

  

  Zane Grey
  • Time
  • Stronger
  • Treasure

• I mean, I've never really had much security, to be honest.

  

  Aaron Paul
  • Mean
  • Never
  • Security

• My group of friends, we sort of go at each other pretty hard sometimes. And it's half performance, half truth that you can say cutting things to your friends that might be a little true, but as long as you package it in a joke, it becomes a little more palatable.

  

  Andrew Rannells
  • Long
  • Truth
  • Friends

• When small men attempt great enterprises, they always end by reducing them to the level of their mediocrity.

  

  Napoleon Bonaparte
  • Great
  • Men
  • Small

• I love my jackets and good tailoring. I love the designs and the colour.

  

  John Boyega
  • Good

• What! Would I be turned back from doing a thing that I had determined to do, and that I knew to be right, by the airs and interference of such a person, or any person I may say? No, I have no idea of being so easily persuaded. When I have made up my mind, I have made it.

  

  Jane Austen
  • Person
  • Interference
  • Airs

• My husband and I were married in May 2007 on a sprawling rent-a-ranch in the Texas Hill Country. On the drive from Houston, we'd stopped off for our marriage license in the former produce aisle of a Winn Dixie-turned-courthouse in San Marcos and from there drove off the grid.

  

  Laura Moser
  • Country
  • May
  • Marriage

• You've got to get obsessed and stay obsessed.

  

  John Irving