Reason, alas, does not remove mountains. It only tries to walk around them, and see what is on the other side.

After the spiritual powers, there is no thing in the world more unconquerable than the spirit of nationality. ... The spirit of nationality in Ireland will persist even though the mightiest of material powers be its neighbor.

Forgive me, Spirit of my spirit, for this, that I have found it easier to read the mystery told in tears and understood Thee better in sorrow than in joy.

No leader, however great a personality he may be, is as important to a people as their own intellectual development.

We may fight against what is wrong, but if we allow ourselves to hate, that is to insure our spiritual defeat and our likeness to what we hate.

Any relations in a social order will endure if there is infused into them some of that spirit of human sympathy, which qualifies life for immortality.

There is a law in human nature which draws us to like what we passionately condemn.