“If you strike us down now we shall rise again and renew the fight. You cannot conquer Ireland; you cannot extinguish the Irish passion for freedom. If our deed has not been sufficient to win freedom then our children will win it by a better deed.”

“The words of the bards come down the centuries to us, warm with living breath.”

“Blood is a cleansing and sanctifying thing, and the nation that regards it as the final horror has lost its manhood... there are many things more horrible than bloodshed, and slavery is one of them!”

“The wise have pitied the fool that hath striven to give a life In the world of time and space among the bulks of actual things,To dream that was dreamed in the heart, and that only the heart could hold.Oh wise men, riddle me this: What if the dream come true?”

“Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam. A country without a language is a country without a soul.”

“Now, tomorrow you got to put on a happy face, not for me, nor May, or anyone else, just for yourself. 'Cause that's a magic trick I learned a long time ago, if you look like you're happy, you soon get to be.”

“When we, through our educational culture, through the media, through the entertainment culture, give our children the impression that human beings cannot control their passions, we are telling them, in effect, that human beings cannot be trusted with freedom. ”