Brendan Behan Quotes
I have a total irreverence for anything connected with society except that which makes the roads safer, the beer stronger, the food cheaper and the old men and old women warmer in the winter and happier in the summer.
Behan, Brendan. Brendan Behan's Island. Bernard Geis Associates, 1962, p. 11.
Often referred to as “Father of the Green Revolution” for his contributions to food growing throughout the world
As hard as it is for us to imagine today, while her husband was President of the United States, the First Lady wrote a nationally syndicated newspaper column every single day with politics frequently the subject. While she usually agreed with the President, there were occasions where they seemed to not see things exactly the same. She tended to be more liberal than he. However, there were those who believed that when she criticized politicians, it was with FDR’s knowledge and blessing and she sometimes did his “dirty work.” Eleanor Roosevelt was one of the most influential people in the country—certainly more-so than any First Lady before and since.
This was the first time that the Environmental Protection Agency had vetoed a permit for a mountain top removal coal mining project that had been granted by the Army Corps of Engineers. The proposed project, Spruce 1, would have removed the entire top of a mountain. It would have created a number of jobs, but it also would have polluted a number of streams in the area and would have affected the ground water of people in the area. What made this a most difficult political decision was that the economic damage was clear as was the science showing the water damage. The people in the community were split over which was the worse alternative.
Brendan Francis Aidan Behan (christened Francis Behan) was an Irish poet, short story writer, novelist and playwright who wrote in both English and Irish. He was named by Irish Central as one of the greatest Irish writers of all time.
