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James Stephens Quotes

d. 1950 Ireland

James Stephens (9 February 1880 – 26 December 1950) was an Irish novelist, broadcaster and poet, now best known for his fantasy novel The Crock of Gold. James Joyce thought so highly of him he considered asking him to complete Finnegans Wake.

Ireland
Novelists
Poets
Short story writers

Random James Stephens quote

9 quotes

Curiosity will conquer fear even more than bravery will.

The duty of a lyrical poet is not to express or explain, it is to intensify life.

Never be a servant in your heart. To work is nothing; the king on his throne, the priest kneeling before the Holy Altar, all people in all places had to work, but no person at all need be a servant.

Finality is death. Perfection is finality. Nothing is perfect. There are lumps in it.

Faith is the key that unlocks the cabinet of God's treasures; the king's messenger from the celestial world, to bring all the supplies we need out of the fullness that there is in Christ.

Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895)

I would think
Until I found
Something
I can never find;
– Something
Lying
On the ground,
In the bottom
Of my mind.

Because our lives are cowardly and sly,
Because we do not dare to take or give,
Because we scowl and pass each other by,
We do not live; we do not dare to live.

His pipe was always going out,
And then he'd have to search about
In all his pockets, and he'd mow
O, deary me! and, musha now!
And then he'd light his pipe, and then
He'd let it go clean out again.

If I asked her master he'd give me a cask a day;
But she, with the beer at hand, not a gill would arrange!
May she marry a ghost and bear him a kitten, and may
The High King of Glory permit her to get the mange.

A Glass of Beer (1918)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: James Stephens (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.