Brendan Behan Quotes

Brendan Behan — Irish Dramatist born on February 09, 1923, died on March 20, 1964

Brendan Francis Aidan Behan was an Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, and playwright who wrote in both English and Irish. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest Irish writers of all time. He was also an Irish republican and a volunteer in the Irish Republican Army. Born in Dublin into a republican family, he became a member of the IRA's youth organisation Fianna Éireann at the age of fourteen. However, there was also a strong emphasis on Irish history and culture in the home, which meant he was steeped in literature and patriotic ballads from an early age. Behan eventually joined the IRA at sixteen, which led to his serving time in a borstal youth prison in the United Kingdom and he was also imprisoned in Republic of Ireland. During this time, he took it upon himself to study and he became a fluent speaker of the Irish language. Subsequently released from prison as part of a general amnesty given by the Fianna Fáil government in 1946, Behan moved between homes in Dublin, Kerry and Connemara, and also resided in Paris for a time... (wikipedia)

Ah, bless you, Sister, may all your sons be bishops.

I have a total irreverence for anything connected with society except that which makes the roads safer, the beer stronger, the food cheaper and the old men and old women warmer in the winter and happier in the summer.

What an author likes to write most is his signature on the back of a cheque.

At the innermost core of all loneliness is a deep and powerful yearning for union with one's lost self.

A quotation in a speech, article or book is like a rifle in the hands of an infantryman. It speaks with authority.