The city of Cork - the urban center, where all the shops and bars and everything are - is actually an island, a river island.

Not watching TV gets me in a lot of trouble in my household because my wife and daughter have a lot of shows they like to watch.

Ireland starts for me with the end of The Dead, which my father read to me from his desk in his basement office in New Albany, Ind.

We live in such constant nearness to the abyss of past time that the moment is endlessly sucked into.

What’s old doesn’t need to be old-fashioned. It gets reborn.

Reporting provides reminders that things are always more complicated than you think.

It is a curious fact that the word essayist showed up in English before it existed in French.

At GQ, there was never a temptation to pander or preach to the choir because I had no concept of who the reader was or what that reader might want.

Freaky things happen all the time in the world. I suppose everything has to happen for the first time at some point.

A good writer wants from us — or has no right to ask more than — intelligence, good faith and time.

I'm just saying, take courage. That and pretty much that alone is never the incorrect thing to do.

But to be the best, you must face the best. And to overcome your fear, you must deal with the best.

The thing that makes me really outraged, is the idea that the Mormon Church would presume to get involved in decisions that have little to do with Mormonism.

I always wanted to be a professional athlete. I love my life.

The side that feels the lesser urge for peace will naturally get the better bargain.

In light of 50 years of bondage of Eastern Europe, [invading the Soviet Union in 1948 to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons] was probably a reasonable thing to do.

Our thinking tends to be hazy, hasty, narrow, or sprawling-causal terms for impulsive. Just like anything else, thinking skills require upkeep. If they aren't nourished, they'll fade away.

Yes, I get a report from BMI about the frequency of performances, and it is very surprising. They played one of my most advanced pieces, and one of my most unusual ones on the radio.

Some girls are bright as the morning / And some girls are blessed with a dark turn of mind.

It's very possible that advertising business models will simply never do as well on mobile devices as those oriented around transactions.

The reconciling grave swallows distinction first, that made us foes; there all lie down in peace together.