James Joyce on the Universal in the Particular
Quoted in Arthur Power, From an Old Waterford House, London n.d., p.63-64; also in Richard Ellmann, James Joyce, 1965 Edn., p.520, citing interview with Arthur Power, Dec. 1953. … Remark to Claud Sykes; quoted in Ellmann, James Joyce, 1965 Edn. p.436.For myself, I always write about Dublin, because if I can get to the heart of Dublin I can get to the heart of all the cities of the world. In the particular is contained the universal. … To me an Irish safety pin is more important than an English epic.’