John Irving Country Quotations

You can't say you're going to ban something in the name of good taste, because then you have directed someone to play the role of good-taste police. We [Americans] permit bad taste in this country. In fact, we even encourage it.

If you feel strongly about people having abortions, don't have one. But we are a country [USA] that likes to be punitive. We want to restrict. It is a kind of religious fervor run amuck.

I certainly think Obama is the most hopeful president I've seen in the country since John Kennedy.

Every American should be forced to live outside the United States for a year or two. Americans should be forced to see how ridiculous they appear to the rest of the world! They should listen to someone else's version of themselves--to anyone else's version! Every country knows more about America than Americans know about themselves! And Americans know absolutely nothing about any other country!

We permit bad taste in this country. In fact, we even encourage it - and reward it in all manner of ways.