A writer's job is to imagine everything so personally that the fiction is as vivid as memories.
John IrvingRead
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of emotional support and connection when it comes to family and parenthood.
In this quote, John Irving expresses a deep sense of personal experience and the emotional void that can exist without the involvement and care of others during pregnancy. It highlights the idea that the journey of bringing forth a new life should not be a solitary affair; rather, it necessitates the warmth and affection of loved ones who are willing to share in the experience. The act of feeling a baby kick or listening to its movements symbolizes the emotional bonds that are fundamental to family and parenting.
Themes
FamilyParenthoodEmotional SupportConnectionLove
In practice
Example use cases
During a family gathering, to express the importance of emotional bonds in parenting.
More from John Irving
All quotes →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.
John IrvingRead
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.
John IrvingRead
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.
John IrvingRead
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
Because abortions are illegal, women who need and want them have no choice in the matter, and you-because you know how to perform them-have no choice, either
John IrvingRead
Similar quotes
I'm most proud of the longevity of my marriage, my kids, and my grandchildren. If you don't have that, you really don't have very much.
Bob NewhartRead
I had a brother who was my savior, made my childhood bearable.
Maurice SendakRead
The person who has inspired me my whole life is my Mom, because she taught me commitment. She sacrificed.
Mike KrzyzewskiRead
They've lived here now for more than half of their lives, and they raised a family here and now have grandchildren here... It has become their home, but at the same time, for my parents, I don't think either of them will ever consciously think, 'I am an American.'
Jhumpa LahiriRead
We didn't have anyone to tell us that what was going on with me was alright. There was no information about transgender people when we started our journey, but we managed to make it through because of the tremendous amount of love that our family had.
Nicole MainesRead
I wanted to be a 150% entrepreneur and a 150% mom, and I found that I was having a very hard time doing both. I was about 75% and 75% - still better than 100%, but not what I was accustomed to at work.
Barbara CorcoranRead