Money doesn't make you happy, but it gives a zone of comfort around you.

My father went to work by train every day. It was half an hour's journey each way, and he would read a paperback in four journeys. After supper, we all sat down to read - it was long before TV, remember!

We're nothing if we're not loved. When you meet somebody who is more important to you than yourself, that has to be the most important thing.

My memory of my home was that it was very happy, and that there was more fun and life there than there was anywhere else.

I'm an escapist kind of writer.

Happiness is knowing and appreciating what you've got. I am very, very, very grateful for what, to me, is dead easy.

In Ireland every place you visit and every person you meet has a story. And they love to tell you their stories. Everyone is interested in everything; in a land of storytellers, you will never be bored.