Quote of the Day: St. Patrick’s Edition

Belfast, where learning the Irish language was a sign of solidarity with the anti-British cause.

For tomorrow’s celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, a note on the Irish, language, and stubbornness:

If you want to make any sort of Irishman do something, the surest way is to tell him it is forbidden; and if the learning of the Irish language is a bad thing (I’m not sure that it is…) … forbidden it under pressure will stimulate it to such an extent that the very dogs in Belfast … will bark in Irish.

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