I wasn't even aware of the Year of the Family. I couldn't give a toss. These things - the year of the family, the year of the three-legged dog. I think it's all trash.

If there is a heaven, Jane Austen is sitting in a small room with Mother Teresa and Princess Diana, listening to Duran Duran, forever. If there's a hell, she's standing.

I'm not recognised that much. I'm just a bald man in glasses and there's a rash of them in Dublin. It'd be different if I had a mohican.

You know people are always putting Ulysses in the top 10 books ever written but I doubt that any of those people were really moved by it.

It's a big con job. We have sold the myth of Dublin as a sexy place incredibly well; because it is a dreary little dump most of the time.

I see people in terms of dialogue and I believe that people are their talk.

Some of the people who look the most normal are probably the maddest people trying to look normal.

Good ideas are often murdered by better ones.

When I'm writing I just think there's only the page and me and nobody else.

If you are a writer you're at home, which means you're out of touch. You have to make excuses to get out there and look at how the world is changing.

It's great meeting children because you never know what they will say.

A broken bone can heal, but the wound a word opens can fester forever.

I don't like spinach, and I'm glad I don't, because if I liked it I'd eat it, and I just hate it.

Interesting things come your way but as you get older, your lifestyle changes. I don't want to travel; I don't want to be in a hotel room away from my family.

The whole secret of the study of nature lies in learning how to use one's eyes.

It is the first law of practical courage. To be in the weakest camp is to be in the strongest school.

Seskin has the gift of song...his voice has a natural lilt that can’t be learned. The combination of musicianship and repertoire make for a rich and satisfying musical experience.

They both go together; you can't be in front of the camera hosting a fitness television show in front of 75 million households and not have trained 6 days per week year round - in a bikini no less.

We must all assume out responsibilities to take the country forward.

"Be Prepared." "Be prepared for what?" "Why, for any old thing."

When I was 17, I was so shy I could barely speak or introduce myself to anyone.