“ The thing itself, the first thing, will never do us alone, we must be elaborating, improving, poeticising. Sebastian Barry
“ The real comfort is that the history of the world contains so much grief that my small griefs are edged out, and are only cinders at the borders of the fire. I am saying this again because I want it t… Sebastian Barry
“ How is that for some people drinking is a short-term loan on the spirit, but for others a heavy mortgage on the soul? Sebastian Barry
“ Four men killed that day. The phrase sat up in Willie's head like a rat and made a nest for itself there Sebastian Barry
“ It was an earthquake, tearing at the sons of America, trying to swallow them up. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful sons, that women had reared, had kissed and screamed at, and that fathers had stared in… Sebastian Barry
“ Indians look very puzzled, surprised and offended to be shot but they go to the wall with noble mien I must allow. You can’t have nothing good in war without you punishing the guilty, the sergeant say… Sebastian Barry
“ This (white settlers) was the section of humanity that was favored in that place, the Indians had no place no more there. Their tickets of passage were rescinded and the bailiffs of God took back the… Sebastian Barry
“ It’s a dark thing when the world sets no value on you and your kin, and then Death comes stalking in, in his bloody boots”. Sebastian Barry
“ There is such solace in the mere sight of water. It clothes us delicately in its blowing salt and scent, gossamer items that medicate the poor soul Sebastian Barry
“ Because it strikes me there is something greater than judgement. I think it is called mercy. Sebastian Barry
“ I am cold, even though the heat of early summer is adequate. I am cold because I cannot find my heart. Sebastian Barry
“ I knew immediately something was terribly wrong, but you can know that and not allow the thought in your head, at the front of your head. It dances around at the back, where it can't be controlled. Bu… Sebastian Barry
“ In the darkness as we lie side by side John Cole's left hand snakes over under the sheets and takes a hold of my right hand. We listen to the cries of the night revellers outside and hear the horses t… Sebastian Barry
“ I am dwelling on things I love, even if a measure of tragedy is stitched into everything, if you follow the thread long enough Sebastian Barry
“ For I did not want him to see, or to question me, for here contains already secrets, and my secrets are my fortune and my sanity. Sebastian Barry
“ His people had hogs there till the bottom fell out of hogs. The bottom was always falling out of something in America far as I could see. So it was with the world, restless, kind of brutal. Always goi… Sebastian Barry