The Cider House Rules

by John Irving

And it is not a problem that every woman who gets pregnant doesn’t necessarily want her baby; perhaps we can look ahead to a more enlightened time, when women will have the right to abort the birth of an unwanted child—but some women will always be uneducated, will always be confused, will always be frightened. Even in enlightened times, unwanted babies will manage to be born.

Loving someone as a parent can produce a cloud that conceals from one’s vision what correct behavior is.”

But you are not welcome to be ignorant, to look the other way, to be unable to perform—should you change your mind.”