Flann O'Brien
Flann O'Brien
Brian O'Nolanwas an Irish novelist, playwright and satirist, considered a major figure in twentieth century Irish literature. Born in Strabane, County Tyrone, he is regarded as a key figure in postmodern literature. His English language novels, such as At Swim-Two-Birds, and The Third Policeman, were written under the nom de plume Flann O'Brien. His many satirical columns in The Irish Times and an Irish language novel An Béal Bocht were written under the name Myles na gCopaleen...
NationalityIrish
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth5 October 1911
CountryIreland
Some savage faculty for observation told him that most respectable and estimable people usually had a lot of books in their houses.
The first beginnings of wisdom...is to ask questions but never to answer any.
Rome wasn't built in A.D.
Hell goes round and round. In shape it is circular, and by nature it is interminable, repetitive, and nearly unbearable.
A wise old owl once lived in a wood, the more he heard the less he said, the less he said the more he heard, let's emulate that wise old bird.
My father...was a man who understood all dogs thoroughly and treated them like human beings.
Your talk," I said, "is surely the handiwork of wisdom because not one word of it do I understand.
When a man sleeps, he is steeped and lost in a limp toneless happiness: awake he is restless, tortured by his body and the illusion of existence. Why have men spent the centuries seeking to overcome the awakened body? Put it to sleep, that is a better way. Let it serve only to turn the sleeping soul over, to change the blood-stream and thus make possible a deeper and more refined sleep.
I suppose we all have our recollections of our earlier holidays, all bristling with horror.
When things go wrong and will not come right, Though you do the best you can, When life looks black as the hour of night, A PINT OF PLAIN IS YOUR ONLY MAN.
Strange enlightenments are vouchsafed to those who seek the higher places.
Questions are like the knocks of beggarmen, and should not be minded.
Why be a dumb dud? Do your friends shun you? Do people cross the street when they see you approaching? Do they run up the steps of strange houses, pretend they live there and force their way into the hall while you are passing by? If this is the sort of person you are, you must avail yourself today of this new service. Otherwise, you might as well be dead.
still loved but deprived of grace