Brendan Behan
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"Brendan Francis Behan" was an Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, and playwright who wrote in both English and Irish. He was also an Irish republican and a Volunteer (Irish republican)/volunteer in the Irish Republican Army (1922-1969)/Irish Republican Army. Born in Dublin into a republican family, he became a member of the IRA's youth organisation Fianna Éireann at the age of fourteen. However, there was also a strong emphasis on Irish history and Culture of Ireland/culture in the home, which meant he was steeped in literature and patriotic ballads from a tender age. Behan eventually joined the IRA at sixteen, which led to his serving time in a borstal youth prison in the United Kingdom and was also imprisoned in Republic of Ireland. During this time, he took it upon himself to study and he became a fluent speaker of the Irish language. Subsequently released from prison as part of a general amnesty given by the Fianna Fáil government in 1946, Behan moved between homes in Dublin, County Kerry/Kerry and Connemara and also resided in Paris for a period.

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The big difference between sex for money and sex for free is that sex for money usually costs a lot less.

There is no such thing as bad publicity except your own obituary.

He was born an Englishman and remained one for years.

If it was raining soup, the Irish would go out with forks.

Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how its done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves.

I value kindness to human beings first of all, and kindness to animals. I don't respect the law; I have a total irreverence for anything connected with society except that which makes the roads safer, the beer stronger, the food cheaper, and old men and women warmer in the winter, and happier in the summer.

I saw a notice which said, 'Drink Canada Dry' and I've just started.

I only take a drink on two occasions - when I'm thirsty and when I'm not.

To get enough to eat was regarded as an achievement. To get drunk was a victory.

...Actually, I'm a drinker with writing problems.

New York is my Lourdes, where I go for spiritual refreshment... a place where you're least likely to be bitten by a wild goat.

When I came back to Dublin I was courtmartialed in my absence and sentenced to death in my absence, so I said they could shoot me in my absence.

I have never seen a situation so dismal that a policeman couldn't make it worse.

Other people have a nationality. The Irish and the Jews have a psychosis.