but writers, Garp knew, were just observers - good and ruthless imitators of human behavior.

Goodnight you princes of Maine, you kings of New England.

If you are lucky enough to find a way of life you love, you have to find the courage to live it.

Never confuse faith, or belief — of any kind — with something even remotely intellectual.

Keep passing the open windows.

Half my life is an act of revision.

You only grow by coming to the end of something and by beginning something else.

I have pretty thick skin, and I think if you're going to be in this business, if you're going to be an actor or a writer, you better have a thick skin.

It is hard work and great art to make life not so serious.

If you don't feel that you are possibly on the edge of humiliating yourself, of losing control of the whole thing, then probably what you are doing isn't very vital.

. . .There are moments when time does stop. We must be alert enough to notice such moments . . .

Be grateful to those who refuse your demands. They are your benefactors.

Imagine having a mother who worries that you read too much. The question is, what is it that's supposed to happen to people who read too much? How can you tell when someone's crossed the line.

Hope is the anchor of the soul the stimulus to action and the incentive to achievement.

The whole world is our dining room, but be careful: it is also our garbage can

I'm always reading books-as many as there are. I ration myself on them so that I'll always be in supply.

The films that influenced me were so disparate that there's almost no pattern.

A CD these days is not all that convenient, and it doesn't bring enough fidelity to make you put up with that inconvenience. So, nobody buys CDs anymore.

Joy is spiritual and far grittier than happiness, and far more robust.

True love is your souls recognition of its counterpoint in another.

The rocket worked perfectly, except for landing on the wrong planet.