Where did I get the nerve to think I could handle American teenagers? Ignorance. That's where I got the nerve.

I'm more interested in writing than in performing.

Stock your mind. It is your house of treasure and no one in the world can interfere with it.

I'm not one of those James Joyce intellectuals who can stand back and look at the whole edifice... It was a slow process for me to just crawl out of it, like a snake leaving his skin behind.

A mother's love is a blessing No matter where you roam. Keep her while you have her, You'll miss her when she's gone -- Angela's Ashes.

The happy childhood is hardly worth your while.

I asked my dad what afflicted meant and he said 'Sickness son, and things that don't fit.'