An Irish Quote

Wherever they went the Irish brought
with them their books, many unseen in
Europe for centuries and tied to their
waists as signs of triumph, just as Irish
heroes had once tied to their waists their
enemies heads. Wherever they went they
brought their love of learning and their
skills in bookmaking. In the bays and
valleys of their exile, they reestablished
literacy and breathed new life into the
exhausted literary culture of Europe.
~Thomas Cahill