If we are taken all together, we might muster some courage, but from the previous evidence it is likely that we will be taken separately.

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.

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

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.

Fortunate are those who take the first steps.

If I saw the gates of hell open and I stood on the brink of the abyss I would not despair I would not lose hope of mercy because I would trust in You my God.

Resurrection means that the worst thing is never the last thing.

It is possible to renounce everything and attain enlightenment. But most people don't want to renounce; they wish to run away from responsibility and hard work.

Your people come first, and if you treat them right, they'll treat the customers right.

I'm writing my biography. It's my business. This is what happened in my life, and I'm writing about it.

On the way I thought about how millions of people drowned so that the first person could learn to swim. The amazing thing is that people still drown.

As I've gotten older, I've come to realize how important it is to vary your workouts.

The birth of science was the death of superstition.

The more I focused on my need to get better the worse I actually got - the more neurotic and self-conscious and self-absorbed I became.