“After a time," said old Mathers disregarding me, "I mercifully perceived the errors of my ways and the unhappy destination I would reach unless I mended them. I retired from the world in order to try to comprehend it and to find out why it becomes more unsavoury as the years accumulate on a man's body. What do you think I discovered at the end of my meditations?”

— Flann O'Brien , book The Third Policeman

The Third Policeman (1967)

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

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "After a time," said old Mathers disregarding me, "I mercifully perceived the errors of my ways and the unhappy destinat…" by Flann O'Brien?

Flann O'Brien 30

Irish writer 1911–1966

Related quotes

“I get cross, then sad, and finally end up turning my heart inside out, and keep trying to find a way to become what I'd like to be and what I could be if…. if only there were no other people in the world.”

Anne Frank (1929–1945) victim of the Holocaust and author of a diary

Source: The Diary of a Young Girl

“This great squire—he was a very rich, influential man—sent for me to go down to his house when my work was over, in order to canvass me. I went down, and after some talk he said to me, "Do your Liberals find you employment?" "What has that to do with my vote?" I said. "I sell you my labour, but not my conscience; that's not for sale."”

Joseph Arch (1826–1919) British politician

Source: The Story of his Life Told by Himself (1898), p. 58

“My friend said to me "I think the weather's trippy." I said "No, man, it's not the weather that's trippy, perhaps it is the way that we perceive it that is indeed trippy." Then I thought "Man, I should have just said 'Yeah.'"”

Mitch Hedberg (1968–2005) American stand-up comedian

Strategic Grill Locations

“When I started meditating, I was filled with anxieties and fears. I felt a sense of depression and anger.
I often took out this anger on my first wife. After I had been meditating for about two weeks, she came to me and said, "What's going on?" I was quiet for a moment. But finally I said, "What do you mean?" And she said, "This anger, where did it go?"”

David Lynch book Catching the Big Fish

And I hadn't even realized that it had lifted.
I call that depression and anger the Suffocating Rubber Clown Suit of Negativity. It's suffocating, and that rubber stinks. But once you start meditating and diving within, the clown suit starts to dissolve. You finally realize how putrid was the stink when it starts to go. Then, when it dissolves, you have freedom.
Anger and depression and sorrow are beautiful things in a story, but they are like poison to the filmmaker or artist. They are like a vise grip on creativity. If you're in that grip, you can hardly get out of bed, much less experience the flow of creativity and ideas. You must have clarity to create. You have to be able to catch ideas.
Suffocating Rubber Clown Suit, p. 8
Catching the Big Fish (2006)

“Why do you need to fly so much?” she asked.
“If I don’t, it’ll catch up with me.” The words just came out.
“What will?”
I took my hands from my face, panting. I stared out at the storm.
“Unhappiness.”

Kenneth Oppel book Airborn

Source: Airborn

“From the beginning year I was doing lot of fitness and also, like, I keep practice, try to improve my game. Maybe this time I find a way or I catch, like, right time.”

Peng Shuai (1986) Chinese female tennis player (1986-)

Source: "Playing All the Angles, Peng Shuai Keeps Her US Open Dream Alive" in ESPN https://www.espn.com/espnw/news-commentary/story/_/id/11454748/playing-all-angles-peng-shuai-keeps-us-open-dream-alive (2 September 2014)