Frank McCourt

There was a kind of madness in the country. Eamon De Valera, the prime minister, had this vision of an Ireland where we'd all be in some kind of native costume - which doesn't exist - and we'd be dancing at the crossroads, babbling away in Gaelic, going to Mass, everyone virginal and pure. ”

My dream was to have a Library of Congress catalogue number, that's all. ”

You sail into the harbor, and Staten Island is on your left, and then you see the Statue of Liberty. This is what everyone in the world has dreams of when they think about New York. And I thought, 'My God, I'm in Heaven. I'll be dancing down Fifth Avenue like Fred Astaire with Ginger Rogers.' ”

When I came to America, I dreamed bigger dreams. ”

You're beginning to hear the tale of the common man and woman rather than the traditional memoir about the generals who just finished the war or the politicians who just rendered glorious service to the country. ”

I think there's something about the Irish experience - that we had to have a sense of humor or die. ”

For some reason, I had a responsibility to my family and the people who lived around me. I felt that I had to convey their dignity - the way they dealt with adversity and poverty - and their good humor. ”

That's what kept us going - a sense of absurdity, rather than humor. ”

I had never attended high school, but I was fairly well read. ”

I never really fit in anywhere. ”