Edna O'Brien Quotes

Every man writes his manner. I just made poor decisions.

Looking at my life was very difficult. I think I learned that I haven't been as good a person as I'm inclined to think of myself as. I haven't been as good friend, haven't been as good a person, made a lot of mistakes.

I think that somehow, we learn who we really are and then live with that decision.

I never had the chance to consider what or how I wanted to be.

I don't know how to sit outside myself and test against a hypothetical self who stayed home.

I think the whole of people's psychology and where they are in life interests me, and the decisions you make that take you on particular journeys to different places.

One day I actually took the list into the bathroom and I put it up against my face and looked in the mirror and I realized I had one of two choices, change the list or change myself.

What people don't understand is that it wasn't about Dean or Eddie, it was about whether or not I was in the right place.

If I would have had the same opportunities when I was 22, there's a good chance I would have squandered them. I know my work wouldn't have been any good.

Basically, when I did 'Infinity' in 1997, I had thoughts in my head that left me with a lot of questions. I've gone to certain personal limits with 'Infinity' that, at the end of it, I think, scared me. And I've made a lot of really kinda bad mistakes as a result of that.

Every choice leads you somewhere, but it might not be where you truly want to be if the decision is based on someone else. It could lead to regrets and what-ifs, but that doesn't mean you wouldn't still have valuable experiences.

We can all tend to get caught up in the complications of life that we create; we live life for other people. It's a harrowing moment when you're confronted with an end, and you have to make the choice to live your life for you.

I don't regret the decisions that I've made. I really truly understand why I made them.

I think everyone in their 30s looks back at their 20s and thinks, 'Oh God, if I'd just done this and this, and not done that.'

In the space between yes and no, there's a lifetime. It's the difference between the path you walk and the one you leave behind; it's the gap between who you thought you could be and who you really are; its the legroom for the lies you'll tell yourself in the future.

I felt at some point that I had nothing to lose, and [laughs] maybe I was wrong. I think, you know, there's always these little autobiographical secrets behind things. I think I was really attacking my earlier self, and this kind of pretentious figure.

Christina Stead has a Chinese say, "Our old age is perhaps life's decision about us" or, worse, the decision we have made about ourselves without ever realizing we were making it.

There is certainly a satisfaction and dignity to be gained in coming to terms with the mistakes one has made in the course of one’s life

There is a time in every life when paths are chosen, character is forged. I could have chosen a different path. But I didn’t. I failed myself.

I have the impression that every time I'm heartbroken, I leave a bit of myself behind. I am the believer. I go back and do the same mistakes over and over again and sign them proudly.

There are times when you don't know yourself. There are times when you don't want to know yourself. There are times when you want to be what you have never allowed yourself to be before.

I don't regret anything. I feel like I've made what I would call mistakes. I picked the wrong movie, or I didn't pursue a character, but everything you do is part of you and you get something from it.

I showed myself a lesser version of myself that night, and I’m glad I learned from it.

I made the wrong mistakes