---
title: "2 Bishop Quotes By Colm Toibin"
description: "2 Bishop quotes by Colm Toibin. Plus more from Colm Toibin and more Bishop sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd1/colm-toibin-3377_becoming_i-did-think-of-becoming-a-priest-quite-l_418140.jpg"
---

> [I did think of becoming a priest quite late on, when other boys were thinking of knocking over fences and going out with girls. I would have made a very good bishop: nice housekeeper, nice clothes - god, the clothes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colm-toibin/i-did-think-of-becoming-a-priest-quite-late-on-when-other-boys-were/)

[Colm Toibin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colm-toibin/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd1/colm-toibin-3377_becoming_i-did-think-of-becoming-a-priest-quite-l_418140.jpg)

> [Between the time I was 16 until I was about 20, the books I read were by people like Thomas Mann, James Baldwin, Thom Gunn, Elizabeth Bishop. All gay, of course, although I swear I didn't know that at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colm-toibin/between-the-time-i-was-16-until-i-was-about-20-the-books-i-read-were/)

[Colm Toibin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colm-toibin/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/62e/colm-toibin-3377_about_between-the-time-i-was-16-until-i-was-ab_1850058.jpg)

## Other authors on Bishop

- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b024/author-victor-hugo-93504.jpg) Victor Hugo 9 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bishop/victor-hugo/)
- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b003/author-alaina-huffman-10235.jpg) Michelle Rowen 7 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bishop/michelle-rowen/)
- [Israelmore Ayivor 6 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bishop/israelmore-ayivor/)
- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b003/author-adolf-anderssen-9526.jpg) Ignatius of Antioch 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bishop/ignatius-of-antioch/)

## More by Colm Toibin

> [I first went to Barcelona in 1975 after university, and I stayed for three years. I learnt Catalan because that's what everyone speaks in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colm-toibin/i-first-went-to-barcelona-in-1975-after-university-and-i-stayed-for/)

[Colm Toibin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colm-toibin/)

> [“What is hard to understand is that our dreams matter”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colm-toibin/what-is-hard-to-understand-is-that-our-dreams-matter/)

[Colm Tóibín](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colm-toibin/)

> [Suffering is too strong a word, but writing is serious work. I pull the stuff up from me - it's not as if it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colm-toibin/suffering-is-too-strong-a-word-but-writing-is-serious-work-i-pull-the/)

[Colm Toibin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colm-toibin/)

> [Three of my novels and a good number of my short stories are told from the point of view of men. I was brought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colm-toibin/three-of-my-novels-and-a-good-number-of-my-short-stories-are-told/)

[Colm Toibin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colm-toibin/)

> [It may be enough to study history in all its nuance and ambiguity for its own sake. But there is no country free of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colm-toibin/it-may-be-enough-to-study-history-in-all-its-nuance-and-ambiguity-for/)

[Colm Toibin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colm-toibin/)

> [The only routine I have is that I finish everything I start. I wake up early every day - about 6.30 A.M. - but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colm-toibin/the-only-routine-i-have-is-that-i-finish-everything-i-start-i-wake-up/)

[Colm Toibin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colm-toibin/)

> [While historians may go on attempting grand, sweeping and defining narratives, they work in a time when readers know that another narrative always lies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colm-toibin/while-historians-may-go-on-attempting-grand-sweeping-and-defining/)

[Colm Toibin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colm-toibin/)

> [John McGovern taught me that it's OK to write repeatedly about the same things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colm-toibin/john-mcgovern-taught-me-that-it-s-ok-to-write-repeatedly-about-the/)

[Colm Toibin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colm-toibin/)

> [Some of our loves and attachments are elemental and beyond our choosing, and for that very reason they come spiced with pain and regret…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colm-toibin/some-of-our-loves-and-attachments-are-elemental-and-beyond-our/)

[Colm Toibin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colm-toibin/)

> [Solitude is good in the evening. Dublin is a quiet city when you get to a certain age, when your friends settle down and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colm-toibin/solitude-is-good-in-the-evening-dublin-is-a-quiet-city-when-you-get/)

[Colm Toibin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colm-toibin/)

> [“The details of what I told him were with me all the years in the same way as my hands or my arms were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colm-toibin/the-details-of-what-i-told-him-were-with-me-all-the-years-in-the-same/)

[Colm Tóibín](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colm-toibin/)

> [I did think of becoming a priest quite late on, when other boys were thinking of knocking over fences and going out with girls.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colm-toibin/i-did-think-of-becoming-a-priest-quite-late-on-when-other-boys-were/)

[Colm Toibin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colm-toibin/)

> [“Here in this cemetery, which they began to stroll around once more, the state of not-knowing and not-feeling which belonged to the dead seemed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colm-toibin/here-in-this-cemetery-which-they-began-to-stroll-around-once-more-the/)

[Colm Tóibín](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colm-toibin/)

> [“I don’t go in for change. It is not one of my subjects. I have always taken the view that noticing change is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colm-toibin/i-don-t-go-in-for-change-it-is-not-one-of-my-subjects-i-have-always/)

[Colm Tóibín](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colm-toibin/)

> [“There will always be reservations, things one must leave out, events one can’t explain without handing over a full map of one’s life, unfolding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colm-toibin/there-will-always-be-reservations-things-one-must-leave-out-events/)

[Colm Tóibín](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colm-toibin/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "ItemList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bishop/colm-toibin/#itemlist",
            "name": "2 Bishop Quotes By Colm Toibin",
            "numberOfItems": 2,
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "I did think of becoming a priest quite late on, when other boys were thinking of knocking over fences and going out with girls. I would have made a very good bishop: nice housekeeper, nice clothes - god, the clothes.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Colm Toibin"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colm-toibin/i-did-think-of-becoming-a-priest-quite-late-on-when-other-boys-were/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd1/colm-toibin-3377_becoming_i-did-think-of-becoming-a-priest-quite-l_418140.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd1/colm-toibin-3377_becoming_i-did-think-of-becoming-a-priest-quite-l_418140.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd1/colm-toibin-3377_becoming_i-did-think-of-becoming-a-priest-quite-l_418140.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“I did think of becoming a priest quite late on, when other boys were thinking of knocking over fences and…” — Colm Toibin",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Between the time I was 16 until I was about 20, the books I read were by people like Thomas Mann, James Baldwin, Thom Gunn, Elizabeth Bishop. All gay, of course, although I swear I didn't know that at the time. Yet all of them, it turned out, had had a parent who died during their childhood. Sexuality is nothing compared to that.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Colm Toibin"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colm-toibin/between-the-time-i-was-16-until-i-was-about-20-the-books-i-read-were/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/62e/colm-toibin-3377_about_between-the-time-i-was-16-until-i-was-ab_1850058.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/62e/colm-toibin-3377_about_between-the-time-i-was-16-until-i-was-ab_1850058.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/62e/colm-toibin-3377_about_between-the-time-i-was-16-until-i-was-ab_1850058.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“Between the time I was 16 until I was about 20, the books I read were by people like Thomas Mann, James…” — Colm Toibin",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "CollectionPage",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bishop/colm-toibin/#webpage",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bishop/colm-toibin/",
            "name": "Bishop Quotes by Colm Toibin",
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "mainEntity": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bishop/colm-toibin/#itemlist"
            },
            "primaryImageOfPage": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd1/colm-toibin-3377_becoming_i-did-think-of-becoming-a-priest-quite-l_418140.jpg"
            },
            "description": "2 Bishop quotes by Colm Toibin. Plus more from Colm Toibin and more Bishop sayings from other authors.",
            "breadcrumb": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bishop/colm-toibin/#breadcrumb"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bishop/colm-toibin/#breadcrumb",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Topics",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Bishop",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bishop/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 5,
                    "name": "Colm Toibin",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bishop/colm-toibin/"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```