Brendan Behan

"I think an author should regard himself as a kind of public servant."

"I'm told I'm the finest actor in Dublin."

"There's nothing wrong with the world that a change in government couldn't fix."

"When I was a child, my parents wanted me to be a doctor."

"I had to educate myself the hard way."

"Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana."

"The more I read history, the more I become convinced of the cowardice of people."

"I find the world rather amusing."

"A man will do desperate things if he's thirsty enough."

"The truth is rarely pure and never simple."

"I have been a rebel, but not for long."

"My main regret in life is that I never got to beat up more Nazis."

"Books are a man's best friend, unless they're the Bible."

"I prefer to think of my writing as a luxury."

"The real Ireland was destroyed in the penal times."

"I'm not afraid of hard work; I can watch other people do it for hours."

"There's more beauty in the truth than in invention."

"I knew him for many years, and he was always himself."

"The essence of Irish conversation is that it's a form of friendly combat."

"I have sympathy with the unfortunate, but not with the lazy."

"You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it ask for a pint."

"I would rather remember one beautiful thing than ten ugly ones."

"The best thing about this world is that we can change it."

"I am the master of my fate, except on Mondays."

"Adventure is just a word for trouble."

"I'm suspicious of any man who doesn't laugh."

"The greatest writer of them all is the one who makes you feel least alone."

"I believe in nothing that requires explanation."

"The problem with the world is not evil, but good intentions."

"Every sentence I uttered was true, but not all of it."