Arnold Bennett was a writer I admired. He was actually taking notes at his father's deathbed.
I came down to the living room one day and my wife was standing in the living room. It wasn't an illusion. I saw her out of the corner of my eye. The moment I saw her, she vanished.
I went through life like an idiot for a great deal of the time, saying there's nothing I would change. That was a very arrogant thing to say. There's a lot I would change. There are people I would have steered clear of.
We were married for almost 45 years. We fought all the time, it wasn't a great love or anything, it wasn't a great, all-consuming passion. She was just there. A lot of people were startled because we didn't seem devoted but we were.
The problem with Ireland is that it's a country full of genius, but with absolutely no talent.
My life is every moment of my life. It is not a culmination of the past.
