Being good is just a matter of temperament in the end.

The absolute yearning of one human body for another particular body and its indifference to substitutes is one of life's major mysteries.

The most potent and sacred command which can be laid upon any artist is the command: wait.

Every artist is an unhappy lover.

What a test that is: more than devotion, admiration, passion. If you long and long for someone’s company you love them.

That's how vile i am! I live Ireland, I breathe Ireland, and Christ how I loathe it, I wish I were a bloody Scot, that's how bloody awful it is being Irish!

Literature could be said to be a sort of disciplined technique for arousing certain emotions.