"I had the taste of the alcohol since I was 11 … It allowed me to be clever, charming and to behave outrageously. Acting also allowed me not to be me. So I could indulge every fantasy in this paradise of America."

Malachy McCourt Literature See all quotes by Malachy McCourt →

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“Malachy's Personal Website”

“Anti-War Speech by McCourt”

“A Couple of Blaguards, the stageplay Malachy performed with his brother, Frank”

“Cute in Ireland meant cunning and devious … And I'm not sure that I'm not.”

“I left school at age 13. I was illiterate with no role models. The great psychobabble today is the dysfunctional family. Well, I've never met one that was functional. In Limerick, a family that was dysfunctional was one who could afford to drink but didn't.”

“On his brother Frank: He's an amazing man … When he was 12, one of our schoolmasters said: "My boy, you are a literary genius. My strong suggestion is to go to America. They will appreciate you there." Over the years I've read what he's written that never got published, and I always said it still holds. He is a literary genius. Also the most nonjudgmental decent guy. He forgives.”

Resonant Thoughts

"In order to receive in the eye all the light diffracted through a narrow opening, and to see the phenomena strongly magnified; still more in order to directly measure the inflection of the light, I pl…"

— Joseph von Fraunhofer

Science1787–1826

#time

"I have never felt that Hollywood is mine, and I've never felt like the King of Hollywood. I've always felt lucky to be included... to be invited to the party. I guess because I've never expected my ca…"

— Lou Diamond Phillips

Entertainment1962

#love

"One of my friends, Vasilii Maklakov, a learned and sharp-witted person, used to talk of Tolstoy's followers: "The one who understands Tolstoy does not become his follower. Whereas the one who becomes …"

— Tatiana Sukhotina-Tolstaya

Literature

#knowledge

"In one of the Cremona hospitals, an Italian doctor had said: "We keep the good things for our friends of the Allied Army, and give our enemies the bare necessities. If they die, so much the worse!" an…"

— Henry Dunant

Business1828–1910

#life