Sometimes one word can recall a whole span of life.

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.

Who never caused others to die Seldom rates a statue.

When I am abroad I always make it a rule never to criticize or attack the government of my own country. I make up for lost time when I come home.

Reach for the stars.

It took me too long to realise that if you go to a marriage counsellor to resolve problems, it's in his interest to keep the marriage going.

I'm a fabulous date, I make sure I look good, I like hearing what a guy has to say and I make sure the evening is a real laugh. I like to laugh.

A majority held in restraint by constitutional checks and limitations...is the only true sovereign of a free people. Whoever rejects it does of necessity fly to anarchy or to despotism.

The past is the sepulchre of our dead emotions.

Lou Reed's music has been in the lives of millions of people all over the world for decades. He had a truly universal presence and was respected by musicians across all genres.

It took years of wear and tear before idealism crumbled like so much bric-a-brac.

The village had institutionalized all human functions in forms of low intensity.... Participation was high and organization was low. This is the formula for stability.