We Irish will never achieve anything; but we are the greatest talkers since the Greeks

The liar at any rate recognizes that recreation, not instruction, is the aim of conversation, and is a far more civilized being than the blockhead who loudly expresses his disbelief in a story which is told simply for the amusement of the company.

The final mystery is oneself.

I want to be good. I can't bear the idea of my soul being hideous.

I wonder that no criminal has ever pleaded the ugliness of your city as an excuse for his crimes.

Alone, and without any reference to his neighbours, without any interference, the artist can fashion a beautiful thing; and if he does not do it solely for his own pleasure, he is not an artist at all.

Conversation about the weather is the last refuge of the unimaginative.