Quotes by Brendan Behan

Brendan Behan

Irish poet, short story writer, novelist and playwright

Lived from: 1923 - 1964

Category: Writers (Contemporary) | Poets (Contemporary) Country: FlagIreland

Born: 9 february 1923 Died: 20 march 1964

Quotes 1 till 20 of 21.

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  • I was court-martial in my absence, and sentenced to death in my absence, so I said they could shoot me in my absence.
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  • A quotation in a speech, article or book is like a rifle in the hands of an infantryman. It speaks with authority.
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  • All publicity is good, except an obituary notice.
    ― Brendan Behan
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  • Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how it's done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves.
    ― Brendan Behan
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  • God forgive us—but most of us grew up to be the sort of men our mothers warned us against.
    ― Brendan Behan
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  • I am a daylight atheist.
    ― Brendan Behan
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  • If you greatly desire something, have the guts to stake everything on obtaining it.
    ― Brendan Behan
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  • Inspirations never go in for long engagements; they demand immediate marriage to action.
    ― Brendan Behan
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  • It's not that the Irish are cynical. It's rather that they have a wonderful lack of respect for everything and everybody.
    Source: Brendan Behan: interviews and recollections (1982)
    ― Brendan Behan
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  • New York is my Lourdes, where I go for spiritual refreshment... a place where you're least likely to be bitten by a wild goat.
    ― Brendan Behan
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  • One drink is too many for me and a thousand not enough.
    ― Brendan Behan
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  • Shakespeare said pretty well everything and what he left out, James Joyce, with a judge from meself, put in.
    Source: The wit of Brendan Behan (1968)
    ― Brendan Behan
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  • So many belonging to me lay buried in Kilbarrack, the healthiest graveyard in Ireland, they said, because it was so near the sea.
    Source: Borstal Boy pt. 3 (1958)
    ― Brendan Behan
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  • The Bible was a consolation to a fellow alone in the old cell. The lovely thin paper with a bit of matress stuffing in it, if you could get a match, was as good a smoke as I ever tasted.
    ― Brendan Behan
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  • The English and Americans dislike only some Irish - the same Irish that the Irish themselves detest, Irish writers - the ones that think.
    ― Brendan Behan
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  • There is no such thing as bad publicity except your own obituary.
    ― Brendan Behan
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  • To get enough to eat was regarded as an achievement. To get drunk was a victory.
    ― Brendan Behan
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  • What an author likes to write most is his signature on the back of a cheque.
    ― Brendan Behan
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  • What the hell difference does it make, left or right? There were good men lost on both sides.
    Source: The Complete Plays
    ― Brendan Behan
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  • When I came back to Dublin I was courtmartialed in my absence and sentenced to death in my absence, so I said they could shoot me in my absence.
    ― Brendan Behan
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