Национальный характер

“Every St. Patrick’s Day every Irishman goes out to find another Irishman to make a speech to.” — Shane Leslie
“I think there’s something about the Irish experience — that we had to have a sense of humor or die. That’s what kept us going — a sense of absurdity, rather than humor.” — Frank McCourt
“I showed my appreciation of my native land in the usual Irish way: by getting out of it as soon as I possibly could.” — George Bernard Shaw
“In Ireland, the inevitable never happens, and the unexpected constantly occurs.” — John Pentland Mahaffy
“Irishness is not primarily a question of birth or blood or language; it is the condition of being involved in the Irish situation, and usually of being mauled by it.” — Conor Cruise O’Brien

(20 Irish Writers on Being Irish)
(Ну, чем мы не Ирландия? Правильный ответ: отсутствием Джойса.)