68 Quotes by James Stephens

Let the past be content with itself, for man needs forgetfulness as well as memory.

I would think Until I found Something I can never find; – Something Lying On the ground, In the bottom Of my mind.

To be silent is to be beautiful. Stars do not make a noise.

My three-thousand mile walk through Ireland convinced me of one thing – the possibility of organising a proper movement for the independence of my native land.

It is by love alone that we understand anything.

The chief business of the gods is to give protection and assistance to such of their people as require it; but... they cannot give any help until it is demanded, the free-will of mankind being the most jealously guarded and holy principle in life; therefore, the interference of the loving gods comes only on an equally loving summons.

Even the wind had ceased, and there seemed to be nothing in the world but the darkness and himself. In that gigantic blackness, in that unseen quietude and vacancy, the mind could cease to be personal to itself. It could be overwhelmed and merged in space, so that consciousness would be transferred or dissipated, and one might sleep standing; for the mind fears loneliness more than all else, and will escape to the moon rather than be driven inwards on its own being.

The toxin generates the anti-toxin. The end lies concealed in the beginning. All bodies grow around a skeleton. Life is a petticoat about death.

We get wise by asking questions, and even if these are not answered, we get wise, for a well-packed question carries its answer on its back as a snail carries its shell.