John Millington Synge Quotes & Sayings

“Of the things which nourish the imagination, humour is one of the most needful, and it is dangerous to limit or destroy it.”

“In this cry of pain the inner consciousness of the people seems to lay itself bare for an instant, and to reveal the mood of beings who feel their isolation in the face of a universe that wars on them with winds and seas.”

“It is the timber of poetry that wears most surely, and there is no timber that has not strong roots among the clay and worms.”

“A low line of shore was visible at first on the right between the movement of the waves and fog, but when we came further it was lost sight of, and nothing could be seen but the mist curling in the rigging, and a small circle of foam.”

“The general knowledge of time on the island depends, curiously enough, on the direction of the wind.”

“Every article on these islands has an almost personal character, which gives this simple life, where all art is unknown, something of the artistic beauty of medieval life.”

“In a good play every speech should be as fully flavored as a nut or apple.”

“It gave me a moment of exquisite satisfaction to find myself moving away from civilisation in this rude canvas canoe of a model that has served primitive races since men first went to sea.”

“There is no language like the Irish for soothing and quieting.”

“Foreign languages are another favourite topic, and as these men are bilingual they have a fair notion of what it means to speak and think in many different idioms.”