Also, an area that interests me - and it will probably take years to state what I mean - is the period of the rise of democracy, with Tom Paine, which is around the turn of the 18th century into the 19th.

Irish people are educated not only about artistry but local history.

Acting doesn't have to be threadbare misery all the time.

I would say the next imminent hot writers are often the writers from the decade before you were born.

To be honest I live among the English and have always found them to be very honest in their business dealings. They are noble, hard-working and anxious to do the right thing. But joy eludes them, they lack the joy that the Irish have.

A lot of Irish people perform. They perform in drawing rooms. They sing songs and they play piano.

Theater is dangerously open to repetition. It's exciting when you hit on a new way.

My mother taught me to read.

The word democracy has no meaning. Duty has gone. Only rights remain.

People who are good at film have a relationship with the camera.

Theater dates very quickly.

I think America becomes more disgruntled by going to the movies and having an endlessly good time at them.

There once was a demographic survey done to determine if money was connected to happiness and Ireland was the only place where this did not turn out to be true.

I certainly had no intention of playing a man.

I can hardly decide what plays I should be in.

Once you've done one style, you leave it for a while.

I would love to write the story of my upbringing in Ireland.

I just think that things should be allowed to run their course, and not turned into a Disney ride.

Every generation is obsessed with the decade before they were born.

So I just play the character, I play the lines.

I take the theater seriously in that I loathe it, I'm bored by it.

The energy released by it is enormous and it becomes quite addictive, the power between the audience and the actor.

I had a ball doing Harry Potter.

Also, an area that interests me - and it will probably take years to state what I mean - is the period of the rise of democracy, with Tom Paine, which is around the turn of the 18th century into the 19th.

The Americans are very clear, and obsessed with nouns.

This whole tribal loyalty seems to have gone.

One moment cannot be the most important.

Even when they have nothing, the Irish emit a kind of happiness, a joy.

I find it incredibly tedious, hate that it murders itself with its own conservative pomposity.

There is a great relief in experiencing the worst vicariously.

There was no professional theater in Cork, but still I did a lot of performing.

There's something about the Irish that is remarkable.

Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.

The experience of democracy is like the experience of life itself-always changing, infinite in its variety, sometimes turbulent and all the more valuable for having been tested by adversity.

In democracy everyone has the right to be represented, even the jerks.

But democracy isn't a state of perfection. It has to be improved, and that means constant vigilance.

Democracy is stronger than terrorism, and we will not cower to the terrorists' campaign of fear.

Our brave soldiers and support personnel are engaged in a battle as important as any the United States has ever before waged, for the success of democracy in Iraq is a crucial test of the ideals this Nation was founded upon.

American and Israel share a special bond. Our relationship is unique among all nations. Like America, Israel is a strong democracy, a symbol of freedom, and an oasis of liberty, a home to the oppressed and persecuted.

Democracy is also a form of worship. It is the worship of Jackals by Jackasses.

Until the control of the issue of currency and credit is restored to government and recognized as its most conspicuous and sacred responsibility, all talks of the sovereignty of Parliament and of democracy is idle and futile.

And when we draw lines in the sand with regard to certain basic things that are vital to our interest and to the interest of democracy and our friends around the world, we have to be willing to back that up.

While Kuwait is not a democracy, giving only half the population a voice in their government is not a policy this Congress should support and one that I am glad that Kuwait's leaders are changing.

It's true that the war in Iraq opened a distance in relations between part of Europe and the U.S. government, but our basic ties are stronger than that. We share democracy, free markets and a commitment to Western security. We differ on how to guarantee that security.

The best Governments of the World have bin composed of Monarchy, Aristocracy, and Democracy.

If we are to keep our democracy, there must be one commandment: "Thou shalt not ration justice."

One has the right to be wrong in a democracy.

In this possibly terminal phase of human existence, democracy and freedom are more than just ideals to be valued - they may be essential to survival.

There is something inherent in our democracy that tends to want to level. America is a little uncomfortable in the presence of someone who is distinctly superior in whatever way.