The way I see it is that all the ol' guff about being Irish is a kind of nonsense. I mean, I couldn't be anything else no matter what I tried to be. I couldn't be Chinese or Japanese.

Quote by John McGahern

Topics: John McGahern Quotes

I think there's a great difference in consciousness in that same way in that when...

I think there's a great difference in consciousness in that same way in that when...

I think fiction is a very serious thing, that while it is fiction, it is...

I think fiction is a very serious thing, that while it is fiction, it is...

When you're in danger of losing a thing it becomes precious and when it's around...

When you're in danger of losing a thing it becomes precious and when it's around...

I've never written anything that hasn't been in my mind for a long time -...

I've never written anything that hasn't been in my mind for a long time -...

Yes, though I have nothing but gratitude for my upbringing in the church.

Yes, though I have nothing but gratitude for my upbringing in the church.

Everything that we inherit, the rain, the skies, the speech, and anybody who works in...

Everything that we inherit, the rain, the skies, the speech, and anybody who works in...

When I was in my 20s it did occur to me that there was something...

When I was in my 20s it did occur to me that there was something...

Amongst Women concentrated on the family, and the new book concentrates on a small community....

Amongst Women concentrated on the family, and the new book concentrates on a small community....

My father was very outwardly religious.

My father was very outwardly religious.

Ireland is a peculiar society in the sense that it was a nineteenth century society...

Ireland is a peculiar society in the sense that it was a nineteenth century society...

I belong to the middle class that grew up very influenced by the Catholic church....

I belong to the middle class that grew up very influenced by the Catholic church....

I love the description of Gothic churches before the printed word, that they were the...

I love the description of Gothic churches before the printed word, that they were the...

For example, it's only about 20 years ago the people in that community would have...

For example, it's only about 20 years ago the people in that community would have...

I think technique can be taught but I think the only way to learn to...

I think technique can be taught but I think the only way to learn to...

I think that each of us inhabits a private world that others cannot see. The...

I think that each of us inhabits a private world that others cannot see. The...

We absolutely believed in Heaven and Hell, Purgatory, and even Limbo. I mean, they were...

We absolutely believed in Heaven and Hell, Purgatory, and even Limbo. I mean, they were...

The rosary was said every evening. I always liked that sentence about the medieval Churches,...

The rosary was said every evening. I always liked that sentence about the medieval Churches,...

But that private world, once it's dramatised, doesn't live again until it finds a reader.

But that private world, once it's dramatised, doesn't live again until it finds a reader.

Yes, but also one of the problems for a novelist in Ireland is the fact...

Yes, but also one of the problems for a novelist in Ireland is the fact...

I used to take five or six books away and bring five or six books...

I used to take five or six books away and bring five or six books...