Keep Scribbling! Something Will Happen.

I Had To Get Rid Of Any Idea Of Hell Or Any Idea Of The Afterlife. That's What Held Me, Kept Me Down. So Now I Just Have Nothing But Contempt For The Institution Of The Church.

When I Look Back On My Childhood I Wonder How I Survived At All. It Was, Of Course, A Miserable Childhood: The Happy Childhood Is Hardly Worth Your While. Worse Than The Ordinary Miserable Childhood Is The Miserable Irish Childhood, And Worse Yet Is The Miserable Irish Catholic Childhood.

I Learned The Significance Of My Own Insignificant Life.

My Childhood Here... Was Very Limited. So It Was A Long, Long Time Before I Actually Went Out To Brooklyn.

Before The Famine, Which Was In The 1840s, That Was An Emotional Turning Point... There Are Various Documents Showing How The Elizabethan English, In Particular, Were Shocked By Irish Displays Of Affection, By The Way Women Acted Toward Strangers, Walking Up And Putting Their Arms Around Them And Kissing Them Right Full On The Mouth.