Quotes · Quote card
Quotation from A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
“When the soul of a man is born in this country 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.”
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Chapter V (Project Gutenberg text)
Stephen answers Davin, who urges him to join the Irish nationalist movement.
Citation: "When the soul of a man is born in this country 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, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Chapter V (Project Gutenberg text). (id joyce-portrait-of-the-artist-q4)
Portrait: Revolutionary Joyce Better Contrast, Unknown, Public domain.
