The 14 best quotes from Bono's interview with Gay Byrne

Bono on rage, his taxes, Inchicore and being smug.

WHAT’S THE MEANING of life?

Were you wondering? You can stop. Gay Byrne asked Bono for us! Hurray! Here are the best things Bono said during their hour-long chat.

1. Talking teenage angst

You’re 14, you don’t know why you feel the way you feel and you have some… rage. Let’s put it like that.

2. On Irish men

Irish males are a piece of work, are they not?

(By the way, in this picture he’s imitating Pope John-Paul II wearing his shades.)

3. The Edge

The Edge’s original nickname was Inchicore. Can you imagine if I was introducing him now? Inchicore! Well, everyone in Inchicore would be up for it.

4. And…

Larry was Jamjar.

5. Explains a lot

When I look my most smug, I’m usually at my most nervous.

6. U2′s origins

We did not start the band to save the world, we started the band to save our own ass.

7. Quite

Paul McGuinness: the Winston Churchill of rock.

8. On his pal Bob Geldof

Bob is not famous for throwing it around. He’s… frugal.

9. U2 as a business

We live on a small rock in the North Atlantic and we would be underwater were it not for very clever people working in government and in the Revenue who made tax competitiveness a central part of Irish economic life. And that’s the reason we have companies like Google or Facebook – and indeed I helped bring those companies to Ireland.

10. Setting the record straight

I want to say – we pay a lot of tax. But we are tax sensible – as every business is.

11. On himself

I am tough. And I may sing from a very private and intimate place, and I make art, but I’m tough-minded and I’m intellectually rigorous.

(To be fair, he did add “I hope”.)

12. Religion

The Holy Spirit is much more anarchic than we think.

13. Life, the universe and everything

I do believe there’s a force of love and logic behind the universe.

14. I believe in miracles

I’ve no problem with miracles. I live around them. I am one.

If you’d like the watch the interview for yourself, it’s up on RTE Player for the next 21 days. As you can tell from the above quotes, it’s quite something.