Alexander McCall Smith Quotes - Page 2

Any author of fiction will tell you that characters don't need to be told what to do.

Small things may be important to us; to be a sometime anything is sometimes something.

It is sometimes easier to be happy if you don't know everything.

If your ceiling should fall down, then you have lost a room, but gained a courtyard. Think of it that way.

I have always taken the view that one should never hold against a man anything he says after twelve o'clock at night or after a glass or two of anything.

One of the most destructive things that's happening in modern society is that we are losing our sense of the bonds that bind people together - which can lead to nightmares of social collapse.

[Edinburgh] is a city of shifting light, of changing skies, of sudden vistas. A city so beautiful it breaks the heart again and again.

It seems to me that we're in danger of losing sight of certain basic civic values in society by allowing the growth of a whole generation of people who really have no sense of attachment to society.

She was made for untidy rooms and rumpled beds.

The problem, of course, was that people did not seem to understand the difference between right and wrong. They needed to be reminded about this, because if you left it to them to work out for themselves, they would never bother. They would just find out what was best for them, and then they would call that the right thing. That's how most people thought.

Old friends, like old shoes, are comfortable. But old shoes, unlike old friends, tend not to be supportive: it is easier to stumble and sprain an ankle while wearing a pair of old shoes than it is in new shoes, with their less yielding leather.

Our minds can come up with the most entertaining possibilities, if we let them. But most of the time, we keep them under far too close a check.

We all know that it is women who take the decisions, but we have to let men think that the decisions are theirs. It is an act of kindness on the part of women.

That of all people, it should be him; that took her aback. That the heart should settle on somebody like him; that surprised her. But she was so certain about it, so certain.

When you allow people to do what they wish, then that is what they do. They stop doing the things they need to do.

Oh I love gadgets and I pride myself on keeping at the cutting edge of technology.

Do you realise that people die of boredom in London suburbs? It's the second biggest cause of death amongs the English in general. Sheer boredom...

As a writer, I have readers who will have a range of political views. I don't think they look to me for political guidance.

Lou knew that joy unshared was a halved emotion, just as sadness and loss, when borne alone, were often doubled.

I would certainly never consider myself a Renaissance Man; I'm not fit to look at the dust from the chariot wheels of many of those who have gone before me.

Dogs are in on our human silliness; lions are not.

Well, Id say all of us are a combination of moods and emotions. In my day to day life I dont go around skipping, but at times one can feel sheer exhilarating joy at the world.

But you cannot expect every writer to dwell on human suffering. I think my books do deal with grave issues. People who say they are too positive probably havent read them.

It would be wonderful to have a guru; it would be like having a social worker or a personal trainer, not that people who had either of these necessarily appreciated the advice they received.

At night we are all strangers, even to ourselves.