At home in Ireland, there's a habit of avoidance, an ironical attitude towards the authority figure.

The end of art is peace.

The thing about writing is that if you have the impulse, you will find the time.

The whole relationship between a writer's spiritual/emotional condition and the kind of wordstuff and form-making that's going on in his work is an interesting one. When I was an undergraduate, there was a glib notion around that there was no reason to suppose a bad man could be a good writer.

I shall gain glory or die.

Publication is rather like pushing the boat out; then the boat/book turns into a melting ice floe and you have to conjure a second boat which again turns into a melting floe under your feet. All the stepping stones that you conjure disappear under the water behind you.

The next move is always the test.