A Quote by John Irving

The characters in my novels, from the very first one, are always on some quixotic effort of attempting to control something that is uncontrollable - some element of the world that is essentially random and out of control.

John Irving

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Always Attempting Characters Control Effort Element Essentially First First One Novels Out Quixotic Random Some Something Uncontrollable Very World

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John Irving
American - Novelist
Born: March 2, 1942

I cannot control what you bring into the theater when you see the film. I can't control what my parents bring in. I can't control what some random person on Twitter brings in to the theater. All I can control is the hour and 50 minutes that the movie lasts, and try to give it absolutely everything I can.

James Ponsoldt

There have been so many stories out there about me, so many untruths. I've always believed you can only control what you can control. I can control my attitude, my effort, my commitment to West Virginia. I can't control lies.

Will Grier

I know what we can control, we can control our effort and we can control our approach. We do what we're supposed to do to get some second-chance points off the offensive glass, maybe our pressure can get us some easy opportunities in the open floor and we've got to capitalize.

Andy Kennedy

As artists, we are so not in control most of the time of the content or the narrative of our characters, and sometimes writing takes a turn and it's not something we necessarily have control over. It's just a lot of random dumb luck, so when things click, you've just got to enjoy it.

Mike Colter

But I have always - ever since The Accidental Woman - written novels about individuals attempting to make choices in the context of situations over which they have no control.

Jonathan Coe

I am attracted to characters who think they are in control, but their situation is uncontrollable.

Eric Bana

If you control the food, you control a nation. If you control the energy, you control a region. If you control the money, you control the world.

Henry A. Kissinger

There's always a switch that turns on at some point where you tell yourself, okay, the thing that I can control is the effort. When you figure that out, everything else just falls into place.

Trevor Ariza

There is a documentary element in my films, a very strong documentary element, but by documentary element, I mean an element that's out of control, that's not controlled by me. And that element is the words, the language that people use, what they say in an interview. They're not written, not rehearsed. It's spontaneous, extemporaneous material. People

Errol Morris

I admire addicts. In a world where everybody is waiting for some blind, random disaster or some sudden disease, the addict has the comfort of knowing what will most likely wait for him down the road. He's taken some control over his ultimate fate, and his addiction keeps the cause of his death from being a total surprise.

Chuck Palahniuk

I think all art is about control, the encounter between control and uncontrollable.

Richard Avedon

I think all art is about control - the encounter between control and the uncontrollable.

Richard Avedon

Everyone always says that having kids is messy and sloppy. It's true, but you as a parent have to try to bring some boundaries and control over that experience, or you'd have out-of-control kids.

Victoria Chang

I thought that that was an effort to inject a popular element, a democratic element into the selection of a person who, once he is selected and confirmed, is beyond electoral control.

Stephen Breyer

I always say I write my own novels and the characters don't take control of me, but in fact, I look at the characters in the early stages and I think, 'What is he or she like,' and they slowly come together and they become the person they are.

A. S. Byatt

Sovereignty is the term the Bible uses to describe God's perfect control and management of the universe. He preserves and governs every element. He's continually involved with all created things, directing them to act in a way that fulfills his divine purpose. That's why the most stressed-out people are control freaks. They fail at the quest they most pursue. The more they try to control the world, the more they realize they cannot. Life becomes a cycle of anxiety, failure; anxiety, failure; anxiety, failure. We can't take control, because control is not ours to take.

Max Lucado

A Quote by John Irving

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