John Irving Quotes

We are living in a world where everything is false. The society is like bright paint applied on top of rotten wood.

All this world's noise appears to me a dull, ill-acted comedy!

In the society of men the truth resides now less in what things are than in what they are not.

We lie to one another every day, in the sweetest way, often unconsciously. We dress ourselves and compose ourselves in order to present ourselves to one another.

A single moment spent in a business meeting or at a pub is more than enough to reveal the basic human truth that we are all faking it most of the time. We congratulate a rival on a triumph when actually we are choking on spite. We are cordial and attentive to crashing bores.

I always notice the dysfunctional dynamic of human relationships because most places where you encounter it, people are trying to pretend it isn't happening.

The biggest lie in the world is in answer to the question, 'How are you?' People usually say, 'I'm fine,' but that's mostly bull. Everyone wants to display being perfect. They tell themselves and their friends, 'I drive this car, I own this house, I'm fine.' People ball up into these tight wads of repression.

Faking is a social activity in which people act together to draw a veil over unwanted realities and encourage each other in the exercise of their illusory powers.

Reason is the illusion of reality

The world being illusive, one must be deluded in some way if one is to triumph in it.

There is so much more to this world then outward appearances. Our society basks in the illusion of normalcy every day, and hides from the truth every night.

With acting, I think half of it is just acting confident. We stand on these red carpets and pose in these dresses, but we're all only so confident. It doesn't mean we think we're great looking or anything. It's all a façade.

Life is an unbroken succession of false situations.

Martha: Truth or illusion, George; you don't know the difference. George: No, but we must carry on as though we did. Martha: Amen.

To establish ourselves in the world, we have to do all we can to appear established. To succeed in the world, we do everything we can to appear successful.

You're a prisoner of your own illusions - about yourself and about the world.

That's what living in their world is-a big lie. An illusion where everyone looks the other way and pretends that nothing unpleasant exists at all, no goblins of the dark, no ghosts of the soul.

We all came into this world naked. The rest is all drag.

There was nothing in this world that was not a con, suddenly I understood this. Nothing really mattered, and nothing could be lost.

I am the Mindfreak, there's no Reality! Just this World of Illusion that keeps on haunting me.

I'm really interested in self-deception. Really interested in how people live in bubble universes. How people can fail to see the seemingly obvious.

If we agree that the world is not what it seems, then we have an important question: What shall we do about it?

The world is a lie...not you and me.

Actors, said Granny, witheringly. As if the world weren't full of enough history without inventing more.

Mundus vult decipi: the world wants to be deceived.