“History, Stephen said, is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake.”

“Let my country die for me.”

“What dreams would he have, not seeing. Life a dream for him. Where is the justice being born that way?”

“... I've a thirst on me I wouldn't sell for half a crown.- Give it a name, citizen, says Joe.- Wine of the country, says he.- What's yours? says Joe.- Ditto MacAnaspey, says I.- Three pints, Terry,...”

“He laughed to free his mind from his minds bondage.”

“Ineluctable modality of the visible: at least that if no more, thought through my eyes. Signatures of all things I am here to read, seaspawn and seawrack, the nearing tide, that rusty boot. Snotgre...”

“The tune was sad, as the best of Ireland was, melancholy and lovely as a lover's tears.”

“World is suddener than we fancy it.”

“Take that rage, put it on a page, take the page to the stage, blow the roof off the place.”

“For you can't hear Irish tunes without knowing you're Irish, and wanting to pound that fact into the floor.”

“Lunch looks grand, Meg. Youve really outdone yourself, James commented, loading his plate. He frowned down at an escaping carrot extending precariously over the plate edge andeased it back with his...”

“Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy.”