Men and women do not easily submit to a power that does not weave itself into the texture of their daily existence - one reason why culture remains so politically vital. Civilisation cannot get on with culture, and it cannot get on without it.

Irish fiction is full of secrets, guilty pasts, divided identities. It is no wonder that there is such a rich tradition of Gothic writing in a nation so haunted by history.

It is false to believe that the sun revolves around the earth, but it is not absurd.

Anyone can be tolerant of those who are tolerant.

If it is true that we need a degree of certainty to get by, it is also true that too much of the stuff can be lethal.

The frontier between public and private shifts from time to time and culture to culture.

A truly common culture is not one in which we all think alike, or in which we all believe that fairness is next to godliness, but one in which everyone is allowed to be in on the project of cooperatively shaping a common way of life.