The heaventree of stars hung with humid nightblue fruit.
James JoyceRead
Ireland sober is Ireland stiff.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the cultural identity of Ireland and suggests that sobriety can lead to a lifeless existence.
In this quote, James Joyce conveys the idea that the essence of Ireland is intertwined with its spirit and liveliness, often expressed through its drinking culture. When Ireland is sober, it loses its vibrancy and becomes rigid and unyielding, indicating that joy and creativity might be stifled without the influence of alcohol, which he saw as part of the Irish identity.
Themes
IrelandSobrietyCultureIdentityJoyCreativity
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about Irish culture and its traditions.
More from James Joyce
All quotes βI think a child should be allowed to take his father's or mother's name at will on coming of age. Paternity is a legal fiction.
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If he had smiled why would he have smiled? To reflect that each one who enters imagines himself to be the first to enter whereas he is always the last term of a preceding series even if the first term of a succeeding one, each imagining himself to be first, last, only and alone whereas he is neither first nor last nor only nor alone in a series originating in and repeated to infinity.
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Gentle lady, do not sing Sad songs about the end of love; Lay aside sadness and sing How love that passes is enough. Sing about the long deep sleep Of lovers that are dead, and how In the grave all love shall sleep: Love is aweary now.
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I am tomorrow, or some future day, what I establish today. I am today what I established yesterday or some previous day.
James JoyceRead
The movements which work revolutions in the world are born out of the dreams and visions in a peasant's heart on the hillside.
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