History is said to be written by the victors. Fiction, by contrast, is largely the work of injured bystanders.

It is increasingly clear that the fate of the universe will come to depend more and more on individuals as the bungling of bureaucracy permeates every corner of our existence.

When anyone asks me about the Irish character, I say look at the trees. Maimed, stark and misshapen, but ferociously tenacious.

The vote means nothing to women. We should be armed.

Ordinary life bypassed me, but I also bypassed it. It couldn't have been any other way.Conventional life and conventional people are not for me.

Writing is like carrying a fetus.

never forget this moment, the hum of the bee, the saffron threads of the flower, the drawn blinds, nature's assiduousness and human cruelty.

... a country encapsulates our childhood and those lanes, byres, fields, flowers, insects, suns, moons and stars are forever reoccurring.

Promiscuity is the death of love.

I'm an Irish Catholic and I have a long iceberg of guilt.

In a way Winter is the real Spring - the time when the inner things happen, the resurgence of nature.

When I make a picture, I make love.

There is no one looking out for us. We are all alone.

I too am a member of the human race, (but admittedly not a very active member).

Cal Ripken is steady, he focuses on his job, and he's a good guy.

The wise are free from perplexities; the virtuous from anxiety; and the bold from fear.

You don't choose the times you live in, but you do choose who you want to be.

For me to make lasagna would be a desecration of a great Italian dish. . . . I don't mess with sacred things.

How can you be an artist and not reflect the times?

You are the Self, that perfect immutable Self. Nothing else exists. Nothing else ever existed. Nothing else will ever exist. There is only one Self and you are That. Rejoice!

My younger daughter told me recently that when she was a child she thought the typewriter was a toy that I went into my room and closed the door and played with.