--- title: "1 Things Ordinary Quotes By Joseph O'Connor" description: "1 Things Ordinary quotes by Joseph O'Connor. Plus more from Joseph O'Connor and more Things Ordinary sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bde/joseph-o-connor-23065_genius_but-why-would-they-do-that-what-is-to-be_1622785.jpg" --- > [“But why would they do that? What is to be asked? He was a man who sees into things -- very ordinary things. A hat left on the floor of a café in Kingstown, a proverb overheard, an old fisherman…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-o-connor/but-why-would-they-do-that-what-is-to-be-asked-he-was-a-man-who-sees/) [Joseph O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-o-connor/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bde/joseph-o-connor-23065_genius_but-why-would-they-do-that-what-is-to-be_1622785.jpg) ## More by Joseph O'Connor > [It is not a matter of ends justifying means: but of the creation of new means and new ends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-o-connor/it-is-not-a-matter-of-ends-justifying-means-but-of-the-creation-of/) [Joseph O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-o-connor/) > [“The English possessed as many words for stealing as the Irish had for seaweed or guilt.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-o-connor/the-english-possessed-as-many-words-for-stealing-as-the-irish-had-for/) [Joseph O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-o-connor/) > [“That each man is the sum of his choices is nothing less than the truth. And each, perhaps, is also something else.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-o-connor/that-each-man-is-the-sum-of-his-choices-is-nothing-less-than-the/) [Joseph O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-o-connor/) > [“...but as his father used to say when he had a few drinks taken, you couldn't expect bloody miracles when you were talking about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-o-connor/but-as-his-father-used-to-say-when-he-had-a-few-drinks-taken-you/) [Joseph O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-o-connor/) > [The most important thing I would learn in school was that almost everything I would learn in school would be utterly useless. When I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-o-connor/the-most-important-thing-i-would-learn-in-school-was-that-almost/) [Joseph O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-o-connor/) > [“They had far more in common than either realised. One was born Catholic, the other Protestant. One was born Irish, the other British. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-o-connor/they-had-far-more-in-common-than-either-realised-one-was-born/) [Joseph O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-o-connor/) > [Dublin was turning into Disneyland with super-pubs, a Purgatory open till five in the morning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-o-connor/dublin-was-turning-into-disneyland-with-super-pubs-a-purgatory-open/) [Joseph O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-o-connor/) > [(The short story) is a form that has all the power of the novel - some would say more - but none of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-o-connor/the-short-story-is-a-form-that-has-all-the-power-of-the-novel-some/) [Joseph O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-o-connor/) > [“And if ever you wanted to quit your impatient girl truly, and our little story had to be stored away in a room that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-o-connor/and-if-ever-you-wanted-to-quit-your-impatient-girl-truly-and-our/) [Joseph O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-o-connor/) > [“Happy as a threaded needle”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-o-connor/happy-as-a-threaded-needle/) [Joseph O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-o-connor/) > [I feel these days like a very large flamingo. No matter what way I turn, there is always a very large bill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-o-connor/i-feel-these-days-like-a-very-large-flamingo-no-matter-what-way-i/) [Joseph O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-o-connor/) > [Everything is in the way the material is composed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-o-connor/everything-is-in-the-way-the-material-is-composed/) [Joseph O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-o-connor/) > [Politics' the polite word for antediluvian prejudices, the rags put on by enmity and tribal resentment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-o-connor/politics-the-polite-word-for-antediluvian-prejudices-the-rags-put-on/) [Joseph O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-o-connor/) > [There is nothing worse than the ambitions of a talentless person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-o-connor/there-is-nothing-worse-than-the-ambitions-of-a-talentless-person/) [Joseph O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-o-connor/) > [If you do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got. If what you are doing is not working, do something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-o-connor/if-you-do-what-you-ve-always-done-you-ll-always-get-what-you-ve/) [Joseph O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-o-connor/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-ordinary/joseph-o-connor/#itemlist", "name": "1 Things Ordinary Quotes By Joseph O'Connor", "numberOfItems": 1, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“But why would they do that? What is to be asked? He was a man who sees into things -- very ordinary things. A hat left on the floor of a café in Kingstown, a proverb overheard, an old fisherman mending a net: these, for him, were a kind of incitement. There are no answers other than that. He was not like the rest of us. Not even like himself . His imagination, or soul, or whatever province of his mind was hungry for the sustaining rain of the world, would soak in the storms of his own haunted strangeness, and the berries would bloom, and they were what they were, and if the tendrils were peculiar, and some of them wild, the fruits were so shockingly luscious and potent that the thirsty were willing to savour the bitter for the sake of the concomitant sweet. He needed the very ordinary. He was a beautiful man. What more than this need be said? 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