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

— Brendan Behan

Hostage (1958)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Brendan Behan 14

Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, and playwright 1923–1964

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“He is an Englishman!
For he himself has said it,
And it's greatly to his credit,
That he is an Englishman!.

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But in spite of all temptations
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Misattributed

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Die Natur des Menschen bleibt immer dieselbe; im zehntausendsten Jahr der Welt wird er mit Leidenschaften geboren, wie er im zweiten derselben mit Leidenschaften geboren ward, und durchläuft den Gang seiner Thorheiten zu einer späten, unvollkommenen, nutzlosen Weisheit. Wir gehen in einem Labyrinth umher, in welchem unser Leben nur eine Spanne abschneidet; daher es uns fast gleichgültig sein kann, ob der Irrweg Entwurf und Ausgang habe.
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“What then remains but that we still should cry
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“I suspect he was never young, was just born straight forty years old.”

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“The Englishman falls on the ideas and customs of other nations like a lump of granite in the water: and there he stays, a weighty encumbrance, with his Bible, his sports and his prejudices, his etiquette and selfishness – completely unaccommodating to those among whom he lives. That is why he remains, in the countries where he has lived for centuries, a foreigner.”

José Maria Eça de Queiroz book Cartas de Inglaterra

O inglês cai sobre as ideias e as maneiras dos outros como uma massa de granito na água: e ali fica pesando, com a sua Bíblia, os seus clubes, os seus sports, os seus prejuízos, a sua etiqueta, o seu egoísmo – fazendo na circulação da vida alheia um incomodativo tropeço. É por isso que nos países onde vive há séculos é ele ainda o estrangeiro.
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“She had been born for this man, and she had spent so many years trying to accept the fact that he had been born for someone else…”

Julia Quinn (1970) American novelist

Source: Romancing Mister Bridgerton

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

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Brendan Behan 14

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