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Brendan Behan Quotes

Brendan Francis Aidan Behan was an Irish poet, short story writer, novelist and playwright who wrote in both English and Irish. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest Irish writers of all time.An Irish republican and a volunteer in the Irish Republican Army, Behan was born in Dublin into a staunchly republican family becoming a member of the IRA's youth organisation Fianna Éireann at the age of fourteen. There was also a strong emphasis on Irish history and culture in the home, which meant he was steeped in literature and patriotic ballads from an early age. Behan eventually joined the IRA at sixteen, which led to his serving time in a borstal youth prison in the United Kingdom and he was also imprisoned in 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, Kerry and Connemara, and also resided in Paris for a time.

In 1954, Behan's first play The Quare Fellow, was produced in Dublin. It was well received; however, it was the 1956 production at Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop in Stratford, London, that gained Behan a wider reputation. This was helped by a famous drunken interview on BBC television with Malcolm Muggeridge. In 1958, Behan's play in the Irish language An Giall had its debut at Dublin's Damer Theatre. Later, The Hostage, Behan's English-language adaptation of An Giall, met with great success internationally. Behan's autobiographical novel, Borstal Boy, was published the same year and became a worldwide best-seller and by 1955, Behan had married Beatrice ffrench Salkeld, with whom he later had a daughter Blanaid Behan in 1963.

By the early 1960s, Behan reached the peak of his fame. He spent increasing amounts of time in New York, famously declaring, "To America, my new found land: The man that hates you hates the human race." By this point, Behan began spending time with people including Harpo Marx and Arthur Miller and was followed by a young Bob Dylan. He even turned down his invitation to the inauguration of John F. Kennedy. However, this newfound fame did nothing to aid his health or his work, with his medical condition continuing to deteriorate: Brendan Behan's New York and Confessions of an Irish Rebel received little praise. He briefly attempted to combat this by a sober stretch while staying at Chelsea Hotel in New York, but once again turned back to drink.

Behan died on the 20th of March, 1964 after collapsing at the Harbour Lights bar in Dublin. He was given a full IRA guard of honour, which escorted his coffin. It was described by several newspapers as the biggest Irish funeral of all time after those of Michael Collins and Charles Stewart Parnell.



Wikipedia  

✵ 9. February 1923 – 20. March 1964  •  Other names Brendan Francis Behan, 布兰登·贝汉, برندان بهان
Brendan Behan photo
Brendan Behan: 14 quotes2 likes

Famous Brendan Behan Quotes

“The sun was in mind to come out but having a look at the weather it was in lost heart and went back again.”

Brendan Behan

Confessions of an Irish Rebel (1967 [1965])

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

Brendan Behan

“I'm a drinker with writing problems.”

Brendan Behan

“It's not that the Irish are cynical. It's rather that they have a wonderful lack of respect for everything and everybody.”

Brendan Behan

Source: As quoted in Brendan Behan, Interviews and Recollections (1982), Vol. 2, edited by E. H. Mikhail, p. 186

Brendan Behan Quotes

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

Brendan Behan

As quoted in A Contemporary Reader: essays for today and tomorrow, Harry William Rudman, Irving Rosenthal, Ronald Press (1961), p. 334
Context: As regards drink, I can only say that in Dublin during the Depression when I was growing up, drunkenness was not regarded as a social disgrace. To get enough to eat was regarded as an achievement. To get drunk was a victory.

“I respect kindness in human beings first of all, and kindness to animals. I don't respect the law”

Brendan Behan

As quoted in The Harper Book of Quotations (1993) edited by Robert I. Fitzhenry, p. 420
Context: I respect kindness in 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 the old men and old women warmer in the winter and happier in the summer.

“An author's first duty is to let down his country.”

Brendan Behan

As quoted in The Guardian (1960), and also in The Cynic's Lexicon: A Dictionary of Amoral Advice (1984), by Jonathon Green, p. 20

“He was born an Englishman and remained one for years.”

Brendan Behan

Hostage (1958)

“Mother, they would praise my balls if I hung them high enough.”

Brendan Behan

Speaking of newspaper critics, as quoted in Mother of all the Behans: The story of Kathleen Behan as told to Brian Behan (1984) by Kathleen Behan and Brian Behan, p. 119

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

Brendan Behan

Hostage (1958)

“I only drink on two occasions — When I am thirsty and when I'm not.”

Brendan Behan

As quoted in Malcolm Arnold: Rogue Genius (2004) by Anthony Meredith and Paul Harris, p. 337

“There's no bad publicity except an obituary.”

Brendan Behan

As quoted in The World of Brendan Behan (1966) by Sean McCann, p. 56
Variant: There's no bad publicity except an obituary notice.

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