Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Flann O'Brien

Quote by Flann O'Brien

“After a time," said old Mathers disregarding me, "I mercifully perceived the errors of my ways and the unhappy destination I would reach unless I mended them. I retired from the world in order to try to comprehend it and to find out why it becomes more unsavoury as the years accumulate on a man's body. What do you think I discovered at the end of my meditations?" I felt pleased again. He was now questioning me. "What?" "That No is a better word than Yes," he replied.”

Quote by Flann O'Brien

Book:The Third Policeman (Harper Perennial Modern Classics)
Create image

Work

The Third Policeman (Harper Perennial Modern Classics)

This book is a philosophical and surreal exploration of the human condition. It delves into complex ideas and unconventional narrative structures, challenging readers to reconsider their perceptions of time and existence. more

Author

Flann O'Brien
Flann O'Brien

Flann O'Brien, born on October 5, 1911, and died on April 1, 1966, was an Irish novelist known for his unique humor and satirical style. His works, including 'The Third Policeman' and 'The Short Stories of Flann O'Brien', are celebrated for their absurdity and wit. O'Brien is considered an important figure in Irish literary history. more

You May Also Like

“If he failed the first time he took his driver's licence test, it was mainly because he started an argument with the examiner in an ill-timed effort to prove that nothing could be more humiliating to a rational creature than being required to encourage the development of a base conditional reflex by stopping at a red light when there was not an earthly soul around, heeled or wheeled. He was more circumspect the next time, and passed.”

IfsFirstsSoulLightNextEffortDevelopmentProveCreaturesFirst TimeRedArgumentTestsIllRationalDriversNext TimeStoppingHumiliatingReflexesConditionalRed Lights
Book:Pnin
Create image

“I didn't have a chance to buy you anything," she said, then held both closed hands toward him. Uncurled her fingers. In each cupped palm a brown egg. He took them. They were cold. He thought it a tender, wonderful thing to do. She had given him something, the eggs, after all, only a symbol, but they had come from her hands as a gift. To him. It didn't matter that he'd bought them himself at the supermarket the day before. He imagined she understood him, that she had to love him to know that it was the outstreched hands, the giving, that mattered.”

KnowsGivingSaidMatterHandsGivenChanceWonderfulColdUnderstoodFingersSymbolsThings To DoBrownEggsPalmsWonderful ThingsSupermarkets
Author:Annie Proulx
Create image