Quotes from James Stephens

All desires save one are fleeting, but that one lasts for ever. Fionn, with all desires, had the lasting one, for he would go anywhere and forsake anything for wisdom;

Fear cannot be where knowledge is

For the mind fears loneliness more than all else, and will escape to the moon rather than be driven inwards on its own being.

There is no tragedy more woeful than the victory of hate, nor any attainment so hopelessly barren as the sterility of that achievement; for hate is finality, and finality is the greatest evil which can happen in a world of movement.

Quietness is the beginning of virtue. To be silent is to be beautiful. Stars do not make a noise.

Women and birds are able to see without turning their heads, and that is indeed a necessary provision for they are both surrounded by enemies.