Four men killed that day. The phrase sat up in Willie's head like a rat and made a nest for itself there

— Sebastian Barry

He was shivering like a Wick low sheepdog in a snowy yard, though the weather was officially 'clement'. The first layer of clothing was his jacket, the second his shirt, the third his long-johns, the fourth his share of lice, the fifth his share of fear.

— Sebastian Barry

His people had hogs there till the bottom fell out of hogs. The bottom was always falling out of something in America far as I could see. So it was with the world, restless, kind of brutal. Always going on. Not waiting for no man.

— Sebastian Barry

How is that for some people drinking is a short-term loan on the spirit, but for others a heavy mortgage on the soul?

— Sebastian Barry

I am cold, even though the heat of early summer is adequate. I am cold because I cannot find my heart.

— Sebastian Barry

I am dwelling on things I love, even if a measure of tragedy is stitched into everything, if you follow the thread long enough

— Sebastian Barry

I am old enough to know that time passing is just a trick, a convenience. Everything is always there, still unfolding, still happening. The past, the present, and the future, in the noggin eternally, like brushes, combs and ribbons in a handbag.

— Sebastian Barry

If it had been a great necessity, if it had been contingents of an army meeting to overwhelm the enemy by stealth, it might not have worked out so neatly. But fate it would seem is a perfect strategist and will work miracles of timing to assist our destruction.

— Sebastian Barry

I guess love laughs at history a little.

— Sebastian Barry

I knew immediately something was terribly wrong, but you can know that and not allow the thought in your head, at the front of your head. It dances around at the back, where it can't be controlled. But the front of the head is where the pain begins.

— Sebastian Barry