Authors: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

100 Top Quotes By James Joyce, The Author Of Ulysses

Famous As: One of the Most Influential Writers of the 20th Century
Born On: February 2, 1882
Died On: January 13, 1941
Born In: Rathgar, Ireland
Died At Age: 58

The 20th century was one of the most thriving eras of literature as some of the greatest literary giants were born during this time. And while talking of the greatest, one cannot just miss out on James Joyce, the Irish novelist and poet who immensely contributed to modernist avant-garde and was one of the most influential and important authors of the century. His 1922 work ‘Ulysses’ is a masterpiece or landmark of success as it exhibits Joyce’s talent for writing and storytelling. In it, he employs stream of consciousness, parody, jokes, and virtually every other established literary technique to present his characters. His writing style soon gave him a celebrity status in the literary society. However, the phenomenal success of ‘Ulysses’ isn’t the only thing that Joyce’s literary career stands out for. His other works are equally successful and noteworthy, right from short story ‘Dubliners’ to novels, ‘A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man’ and ‘Finnegans Wake’. Joyce’s unconventional style, exploration of language and new literary forms were not just visible in his fictional and non-fictional works but also in his quotes wherein he dealt with life’s truth in an avant-garde way. Stream through this section and get your hands on some of the most famous and prominent quotes by James Joyce.

Listed In:
Shut your eyes and see.

Shut your eyes and see.

James Joyce
Think you're escaping and run into yourself. Longest way round is the shortest way home.

Think you're escaping and run into yourself. Longest way round is the shortest way home.

James Joyce
And then I asked him with my eyes to ask again yes and then he asked me would I yes and his heart was going like mad and yes I said yes I will yes.

And then I asked him with my eyes to ask again yes and then he asked me would I yes and his heart was going like mad and yes I said yes I will yes.

James Joyce
His heart danced upon her movements like a cork upon a tide. He heard what her eyes said to him from beneath their cowl and knew that in some dim past, whether in life or revery, he had heard their tale before.

His heart danced upon her movements like a cork upon a tide. He heard what her eyes said to him from beneath their cowl and knew that in some dim past, whether in life or revery, he had heard their tale before.

James Joyce
History, Stephen said, is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake.

History, Stephen said, is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake.

James Joyce
Love loves to love love.

Love loves to love love.

James Joyce
A man of genius makes no mistakes. His errors are volitional and are the portals of discovery.

A man of genius makes no mistakes. His errors are volitional and are the portals of discovery.

James Joyce
He wanted to cry quietly but not for himself: for the words, so beautiful and sad, like music.

He wanted to cry quietly but not for himself: for the words, so beautiful and sad, like music.

James Joyce
But my body was like a harp and her words and gestures were like fingers running upon the wires.

But my body was like a harp and her words and gestures were like fingers running upon the wires.

James Joyce
Your battles inspired me - not the obvious material battles but those that were fought and won behind your forehead.

Your battles inspired me - not the obvious material battles but those that were fought and won behind your forehead.

James Joyce
Every life is in many days, day after day. We walk through ourselves, meeting robbers, ghosts, giants, old men, young men, wives, widows, brothers-in-love. But always meeting ourselves.

Every life is in many days, day after day. We walk through ourselves, meeting robbers, ghosts, giants, old men, young men, wives, widows, brothers-in-love. But always meeting ourselves.

James Joyce
They lived and laughed and loved and left.

They lived and laughed and loved and left.

James Joyce
Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed.

Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed.

James Joyce
Why is it that words like these seem dull and cold? Is it because there is no word tender enough to be your name?

Why is it that words like these seem dull and cold? Is it because there is no word tender enough to be your name?

James Joyce
And yet her name was like a summons to all my foolish blood.

And yet her name was like a summons to all my foolish blood.

James Joyce
I am tomorrow, or some future day, what I establish today. I am today what I established yesterday or some previous day.

I am tomorrow, or some future day, what I establish today. I am today what I established yesterday or some previous day.

James Joyce
The sea, the snotgreen sea, the scrotumtightening sea.

The sea, the snotgreen sea, the scrotumtightening sea.

James Joyce
Life is too short to read a bad book.

Life is too short to read a bad book.

James Joyce
Secrets, silent, stony sit in the dark palaces of both our hearts: secrets weary of their tyranny: tyrants willing to be dethroned.

Secrets, silent, stony sit in the dark palaces of both our hearts: secrets weary of their tyranny: tyrants willing to be dethroned.

James Joyce
Shakespeare is the happy hunting ground of all minds that have lost their balance.

Shakespeare is the happy hunting ground of all minds that have lost their balance.

James Joyce
Welcome, O life! I go to encounter for the millionth time the reality of experience and to forge in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race.

Welcome, O life! I go to encounter for the millionth time the reality of experience and to forge in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race.

James Joyce
One by one they were all becoming shades. Better pass boldly into that other world, in the full glory of some passion, than fade and wither dismally with age.

One by one they were all becoming shades. Better pass boldly into that other world, in the full glory of some passion, than fade and wither dismally with age.

James Joyce
Mr. Duffy lived a short distance from his body.

Mr. Duffy lived a short distance from his body.

James Joyce
Writing in English is the most ingenious torture ever devised for sins committed in previous lives. The English reading public explains the reason why.

Writing in English is the most ingenious torture ever devised for sins committed in previous lives. The English reading public explains the reason why.

James Joyce
Moments of their secret life together burst like stars upon his memory.

Moments of their secret life together burst like stars upon his memory.

James Joyce
Too excited to be genuinely happy

Too excited to be genuinely happy

James Joyce
My mouth is full of decayed teeth and my soul of decayed ambitions.

My mouth is full of decayed teeth and my soul of decayed ambitions.

James Joyce
I fear those big words, Stephen said, which make us so unhappy.

I fear those big words, Stephen said, which make us so unhappy.

James Joyce
The supreme question about a work of art is out of how deep a life does it spring.

The supreme question about a work of art is out of how deep a life does it spring.

James Joyce
God made food; the devil the cooks.

God made food; the devil the cooks.

James Joyce
You can still die when the sun is shining.

You can still die when the sun is shining.

James Joyce
The heaventree of stars hung with humid nightblue fruit.

The heaventree of stars hung with humid nightblue fruit.

James Joyce
Have read little and understood less.

Have read little and understood less.

James Joyce
What's in a name? That is what we ask ourselves in childhood when we write the name that we are told is ours.

What's in a name? That is what we ask ourselves in childhood when we write the name that we are told is ours.

James Joyce
The object of the artist is the creation of the beautiful. What the beautiful is is another question.

The object of the artist is the creation of the beautiful. What the beautiful is is another question.

James Joyce
My heart is quite calm now. I will go back.

My heart is quite calm now. I will go back.

James Joyce
The movements which work revolutions in the world are born out of the dreams and visions in a peasant's heart on the hillside.

The movements which work revolutions in the world are born out of the dreams and visions in a peasant's heart on the hillside.

James Joyce
When a man is born...there are nets flung at it to hold it back from flight. You talk to me of nationality, language, religion. I shall try to fly by those nets.

When a man is born...there are nets flung at it to hold it back from flight. You talk to me of nationality, language, religion. I shall try to fly by those nets.

James Joyce
To learn one must be humble. But life is the great teacher.

To learn one must be humble. But life is the great teacher.

James Joyce
Hold to the now, the here, through which all future plunges to the past.

Hold to the now, the here, through which all future plunges to the past.

James Joyce
Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger.

Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger.

James Joyce
I wanted real adventures to happen to myself. But real
adventures, I reflected, do not happen to people who remain at home: they must be sought abroad.

I wanted real adventures to happen to myself. But real adventures, I reflected, do not happen to people who remain at home: they must be sought abroad.

James Joyce
First we feel. Then we fall.

First we feel. Then we fall.

James Joyce
As you are now so once were we.

As you are now so once were we.

James Joyce
There's no friends like the old friends.

There's no friends like the old friends.

James Joyce
Let my country die for me.

Let my country die for me.

James Joyce
This race and this country and this life produced me, he said. I shall express myself as I am.

This race and this country and this life produced me, he said. I shall express myself as I am.

James Joyce
Redheaded women buck like goats.

Redheaded women buck like goats.

James Joyce
It is as painful perhaps to be awakened from a vision as to be born.

It is as painful perhaps to be awakened from a vision as to be born.

James Joyce
He thought that he was sick in his heart if you could be sick in that place.

He thought that he was sick in his heart if you could be sick in that place.

James Joyce
A corpse is meat gone bad. Well and what's cheese? Corpse of milk.

A corpse is meat gone bad. Well and what's cheese? Corpse of milk.

James Joyce
What incensed him the most was the blatant jokes of the ones that passed it all off as a jest, pretending to understand everything and in reality not knowing their own minds.

What incensed him the most was the blatant jokes of the ones that passed it all off as a jest, pretending to understand everything and in reality not knowing their own minds.

James Joyce
Me. And me now.

Me. And me now.

James Joyce
Drugs age you after mental excitement. Lethargy then. Why? Reaction. A lifetime in a night. Gradually changes your character.

Drugs age you after mental excitement. Lethargy then. Why? Reaction. A lifetime in a night. Gradually changes your character.

James Joyce
Whatever else is unsure in this stinking dunghill of a world a mother's love is not.

Whatever else is unsure in this stinking dunghill of a world a mother's love is not.

James Joyce
All things are inconstant except the faith in the soul, which changes all things and fills their inconstancy with light.

All things are inconstant except the faith in the soul, which changes all things and fills their inconstancy with light.

James Joyce
What did it avail to pray when he knew his soul lusted after its own destruction?

What did it avail to pray when he knew his soul lusted after its own destruction?

James Joyce
I think I would know Nora's fart anywhere. I think I could pick hers out in a roomful of farting women.

I think I would know Nora's fart anywhere. I think I could pick hers out in a roomful of farting women.

James Joyce
The light music of whisky falling into glasses made an agreeable interlude.

The light music of whisky falling into glasses made an agreeable interlude.

James Joyce
Art is the human disposition of sensible or intelligible matter for an esthetic end.

Art is the human disposition of sensible or intelligible matter for an esthetic end.

James Joyce
Time is, time was, but time shall be no more.

Time is, time was, but time shall be no more.

James Joyce
There is no heresy or no philosophy which is so abhorrent to the church as a human being.

There is no heresy or no philosophy which is so abhorrent to the church as a human being.

James Joyce
When one reads these strange pages of one long gone one feels that one is at one with one who once…

When one reads these strange pages of one long gone one feels that one is at one with one who once…

James Joyce
His soul swooned softly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all the living and the dead.

His soul swooned softly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all the living and the dead.

James Joyce
Once upon a time and a very good time it was there was a moocow coming down along the road and this moocow that was coming down along the road met a nicens little boy named baby tuckoo

Once upon a time and a very good time it was there was a moocow coming down along the road and this moocow that was coming down along the road met a nicens little boy named baby tuckoo

James Joyce
Can't bring back time. Like holding water in your hand.

Can't bring back time. Like holding water in your hand.

James Joyce
Every bond is a bond to sorrow.

Every bond is a bond to sorrow.

James Joyce
Thought is the thought of thought.

Thought is the thought of thought.

James Joyce
In the name of Annah the Allmaziful, the Everliving, the Bringer of Plurabilities, haloed be her eve, her singtime sung, her rill be run, unhemmed as it is uneven!

In the name of Annah the Allmaziful, the Everliving, the Bringer of Plurabilities, haloed be her eve, her singtime sung, her rill be run, unhemmed as it is uneven!

James Joyce
I am proud to be an emotionalist.

I am proud to be an emotionalist.

James Joyce
If it is thus, I ask emphatically whence comes this thusness.

If it is thus, I ask emphatically whence comes this thusness.

James Joyce
Though their life was modest, they believed in eating well.

Though their life was modest, they believed in eating well.

James Joyce
His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all the living and the dead.

His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all the living and the dead.

James Joyce
I am other I now.

I am other I now.

James Joyce
You behold in me, Stephen said with grim displeasure, a horrible example of free thought.

You behold in me, Stephen said with grim displeasure, a horrible example of free thought.

James Joyce
For the years, he felt, had not quenched his soul, or hers.

For the years, he felt, had not quenched his soul, or hers.

James Joyce
Love between man and woman is impossible because there must not be sexual intercourse, and friendship between man and woman is impossible because there must be sexual intercourse.

Love between man and woman is impossible because there must not be sexual intercourse, and friendship between man and woman is impossible because there must be sexual intercourse.

James Joyce
To discover the mode of life or of art whereby my spirit could express itself in unfettered freedom.

To discover the mode of life or of art whereby my spirit could express itself in unfettered freedom.

James Joyce
I'll tickle his catastrophe.

I'll tickle his catastrophe.

James Joyce
Like the tender fires of stars moments of their life together, that no one knew of or would ever know of, broke upon and illuminated his memory.

Like the tender fires of stars moments of their life together, that no one knew of or would ever know of, broke upon and illuminated his memory.

James Joyce
In the particular is contained the universal.

In the particular is contained the universal.

James Joyce
Better pass boldly into that other world, in the full glory of some passion, than fade and wither dismally with age.

Better pass boldly into that other world, in the full glory of some passion, than fade and wither dismally with age.

James Joyce
I have left my book, 
I have left my room, 
For I heard you singing 
Through the gloom.

I have left my book, I have left my room, For I heard you singing Through the gloom.

James Joyce
Let us leave theories there and return to here's hear.

Let us leave theories there and return to here's hear.

James Joyce
When I die, Dublin will be written on my heart.

When I die, Dublin will be written on my heart.

James Joyce
By his monstrous way of life he seemed to have put himself beyond the limits of reality. Nothing moved him or spoke to him from the real world unless he heard it in an echo of the infuriated cries within him.

By his monstrous way of life he seemed to have put himself beyond the limits of reality. Nothing moved him or spoke to him from the real world unless he heard it in an echo of the infuriated cries within him.

James Joyce
Be just before you are generous.

Be just before you are generous.

James Joyce
[A writer is] a priest of eternal imagination, transmuting the daily bread of experience into the radiant body of everliving life.

[A writer is] a priest of eternal imagination, transmuting the daily bread of experience into the radiant body of everliving life.

James Joyce
Lord, heap miseries upon us yet entwine our arts with laughters low.

Lord, heap miseries upon us yet entwine our arts with laughters low.

James Joyce
People could put up with being bitten by a wolf but what properly riled them was a bite from a sheep.

People could put up with being bitten by a wolf but what properly riled them was a bite from a sheep.

James Joyce
I'd love to have the whole place swimming in roses

I'd love to have the whole place swimming in roses

James Joyce
Read your own obituary notice; they say you live longer. Gives you second wind. New lease of life.

Read your own obituary notice; they say you live longer. Gives you second wind. New lease of life.

James Joyce
No one would think he'd make such a beautiful corpse.

No one would think he'd make such a beautiful corpse.

James Joyce
What's yours is mine and what's mine is my own.

What's yours is mine and what's mine is my own.

James Joyce
A way a lone a last a loved a long the riverrun, past Eve and Adam's, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs.

A way a lone a last a loved a long the riverrun, past Eve and Adam's, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs.

James Joyce
The intellectual imagination! With me all or not at all. NON SERVIAM!

The intellectual imagination! With me all or not at all. NON SERVIAM!

James Joyce
It was cold autumn weather, but in spite of the cold they wandered up and down the roads of the Park for nearly three hours. They agreed to break off their intercourse; every bond, he said, is a bond to sorrow.

It was cold autumn weather, but in spite of the cold they wandered up and down the roads of the Park for nearly three hours. They agreed to break off their intercourse; every bond, he said, is a bond to sorrow.

James Joyce
Write it, damn you, write it! What else are you good for?

Write it, damn you, write it! What else are you good for?

James Joyce