Prin > Prin's Quotes

“To remember everything is a form of madness.”
― Brian Friel, Translations

“It is not the literal past, the 'facts' of history, that shape us, but images of the past embodied in language.”
― Brian Friel

“Yes, it is a rich language, Lieutenant, full of the mythologies of fantasy and hope and self-deception - a syntax opulent with tomorrows. It is our response to mud cabins and a diet of potatoes; our only method of replying to... inevitabilities.”
― Brian Friel, Translations

“But remember that words are signals, counters. They are not immortal. And it can happen - to use an image you'll understand - it can happen that a civilisation can be imprisoned in a linguistic contour which no longer matches the landscape of... fact.”
― Brian Friel, Translations