A writer's job is to imagine everything so personally that the fiction is as vivid as memories.
John IrvingRead
Crazy people made him crazy. It was as if he personally resented them giving into madness - in part, because he so frequently labored to behave sanely. When some people gave up the labor of sanity, or failed at it, Garp suspected them of not trying hard enough.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote explores the tension between sanity and madness, reflecting on how the actions of those around us can influence our mental state.
In this quote, John Irving delves into the complexities of sanity and madness, highlighting how external influences can impact our perception of reality and mental health. The protagonist, Garp, feels frustrated by those who seem to abandon their efforts to maintain sanity, suggesting a deep connection between personal responsibility and mental well-being. It illustrates the struggle against societal madness and the internal conflict that arises when one attempts to uphold sanity in a chaotic world.
Themes
MadnessSanityMental HealthResponsibilityInfluence
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the effects of societal norms on mental health, this quote can underscore the challenges of maintaining sanity.
More from John Irving
All quotes →No one but me ever put a hand on me to feel that baby. No one wanted to put his ear against it and listen...You shouldn't have a baby if there's no one who wants to feel it kick or listen to it move.
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It's not very interesting to establish sympathy for people who, on the surface, are instantly sympathetic. I guess I'm always attracted to people who, if their lives were headlines in a newspaper, you might not be very sympathetic about them.
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It is an important distinction to note that she looked not only as if she had taken good care of herself, but that she had good reason to have done so. (...) She looked to be in such total possession of her life that only the most confident men could continue to look at her if she looked back at them. Even in bus stations, she was a woman who was stared at only until she looked back.
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I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice. Not because of his voice, or because he was the smallest person I ever knew, or even because he was the instrument of my mother's death, but because he is the reason I believe in God. I am a Christian because of Owen Meany.
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I will tell you what is my overriding perception of the last twenty years: that we are a civilization careening toward a succession of anticlimaxes – toward an infinity of unsatisfying, and disagreeable endings.
John IrvingRead
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