John McGahern Quotes

A nation without a language is a nation without a heart.

Languages are the pedigrees of nations.

Language is so important to the Irish, almost regardless of education.

I grew up speaking both languages, and for me that's really important.

In general, every country has the language it deserves.

It is a most disgraceful shame the way in which Irishmen are brought up. They are ashamed of their language, institutions, and of everything Irish.

It is asked of me that I give my first speech in this house in a language [English] other than my mother tongue [French.] …. Even if I knew English as intimately as I knew French, I would still give my first speech in the language of my French Canadian compatriots

We of French origin have the sentiment of our own individuality. We want to hand down to our children the language we received from our forefathers.

Our Constitution has affirmed that Gaelic is the national language. Yet there is scarcely one person in a thousand throughout Ireland who cannot speak English and scarcely one in ten who can speak Irish easily.

To be an Irish poet after that 19th century in which there was such a struggle toward the light, I think still will always be in the hearts of the writers of my generation and the generations before and hopefully the generations after.

My kids are Irish; I want them to grow up playing Gaelic football and learning Irish.

I think in my mother tongue. That's Hindi.

Culture, which makes talent shine, is not completely ours either, nor can we place it solely at our disposal. Rather, it belongs mainly to our country, which gave it to us, and to humanity, from which we receive it as a birthright.

I'm proud of my Irish heritage and culture and this show will feature a lot of Irish dancing.

My soul is still Irish.

I want to keep talking about my people and my country in my own language.

It is my great good luck the words I use are English words, which means I live in a very old nation of open borders; a rich, deep, multi-layered, promiscuous universe, infused with Latin, German, French, Greek, Arabic and countless other tongues.

Hindi is my mother tongue. Even though I do not get to use it as often, it's still a part of me.

I think English is a fantastic, rich and musical language, but of course your mother tongue is the most important for an actor.

Urdu can not die out because it has very strong roots in Persia. The language itself is not only just the language of the Muslims, but it's also the language of the Hindus.

I studied French in high school and German in college and I once took a 24-hour Italian crash course. English has by far the most words in it of any other language. Our money might not be worth anything anymore, but the language is.

There is a pride in speaking this language.

The Ireland I now inhabit is one that these Irish contemporaries have helped to imagine.

When I visited Ireland with my father and heard the people on the farm talking, I couldn't believe the gift of language they had. I felt very untalented.

I've built my homeland, I've even founded my state - in my language.