I take people very seriously. People are all I take seriously, in fact. Therefore, I have nothing but sympathy for how people behave – and nothing but laughter to console them with. – John Irving
I think the sport of wrestling, which I became involved with at the age of 14… I competed until I was 34, kind of old for a contact sport. I coached the sport until I was 47. I think the discipline of wrestling has given me the discipline I have to write. – John Irving
I have pretty thick skin, and I think if youre going to be in this business, if youre going to be an actor or a writer, you better have a thick skin. – John Irving
If you are lucky enough to find a way of life you love, you have to find the courage to live it. – John Irving
When youve been raised in care, rap music isnt just about guns and sexism. Theyre talking about real things you can hang on to, problems of identity that you have sympathy with. Its not just about the music, with rap: when I was in care, it meant a whole lot more than that. – Samantha Morton
I do feel like I have always, in my life, been inclined to be on the outside, walk a different path or something. Because of that, and increasingly over the years, my sense of distance from mainstream society or from the way culture works, I have a different kind of perception of it. – Ian MacKaye