fear is a dreadful drawback because it stops us living in the moment.

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.

I am not sure if women are attracted to genius. Can you imagine the wise wizard winning the woman over the gallant swordsman? It seems rather otherworldly in more ways than one.

We choose what and how we believe, and our beliefs are tools that we then use to make things happen ... or not

If any writer thinks the world is full of middle class people of nice sensibilities, then he is out of his mind.

That's how it is sometimes--God comes to your window, all bright light and black wings, and you're just too tired to open it.

To be successful, you only need one person to believe!

We've increasingly lost that sense of community, of the notion that there is something we contribute to and benefit from that is called the common good.

If you follow all of the rules, you'll miss all of the fun.

I don't have a fear and urgency feeling inside myself about the state of the world affairs and everything collapsing.

There was nothing humane about humanity. At the end of the day, they were all animals with only survival instincts.

You give the money where you want it.