“Yes, it is a rich language, Lieutenant, full of the mythologies of fantasy and hope and self-deception - a syntax opulent with tomorrows. It is our response to mud cabins and a diet of potatoes; our only method of replying to... inevitabilities.”

“It is not the literal past, the 'facts' of history, that shape us, but images of the past embodied in language.”

“Even if I did speak Irish, I’d always be considered an outsider here, wouldn’t I? I may learn the password but the language of the tribe will always elude me, won’t it? The private core will always be ...hermetic, won’t it?”

“To remember everything is a form of madness.”

“I believe language is infinitely malleable, a live being in our hands, which deserves our great respect and curiosity”

“We must face our responsibilities regardless of whether we get what we want.”

“When ego trumps fidelity, the end result is inevitably betrayal—betrayal of country, of kith or kin, or of self.”