Many of my books are written from a female perspective. I rather enjoy the take that women have on the world, and certainly I enjoy the conversations that women have. Alexander McCall Smith More Quotes by Alexander McCall Smith More Quotes From Alexander McCall Smith 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. Alexander McCall Smith checks possibility mind [Edinburgh] is a city of shifting light, of changing skies, of sudden vistas. A city so beautiful it breaks the heart again and again. Alexander McCall Smith light heart beautiful 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. Alexander McCall Smith heart love people 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. Alexander McCall Smith work-out differences people 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... Alexander McCall Smith boredom causes people A life without stories would be no life at all. And stories bound us, did they not, one to another, the living to the dead, people to animals, people to the land? Alexander McCall Smith land animal life It's through the small things that we develop our moral imagination, so that we can understand the sufferings of others. Alexander McCall Smith suffering-of-others moral imagination The point about love, the essential point, was that we loved what we loved. We did not choose. We just loved. Alexander McCall Smith essentials love 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. Alexander McCall Smith taken men night There is plenty of work for love to do. Alexander McCall Smith plenty Reality television, which turned its eye on people who were doing nothing but being themselves, was the perfect expression of this trend [of narcissism]. Let's look at ourselves, it said. Aren't we fascinating? Alexander McCall Smith eye expression reality She was made for untidy rooms and rumpled beds. Alexander McCall Smith bed sex rooms The people with the strong, brave exteriors are just as weak and vulnerable as the rest of us. And of course they never admit to their childish practices, their moments of weakness or absurdity, and then the rest of us think that's how it should be. Alexander McCall Smith strong practice thinking Antonia was very conscious of the corrosive power of envy and felt that it was this emotion, more than any other, which lay behind human unhappiness. People did not realize how widespread envy was. Alexander McCall Smith envy unhappy people Any extreme political creed brought only darkness in the long run; it lit up nothing. The best politics were those of caution, tolerance and moderation, Angus maintained, but such politics were, alas, also very dull, and certainly moved nobody to poetry. Alexander McCall Smith political running long A very powerful theme in fiction is that of loss. Alexander McCall Smith powerful loss fiction I think that we've made great moral progress in the second half of the 20th century in many respects, and particularly in relation to human rights but I think that we are losing sight of some of the values of concern for others, and self-respect and respect for others. Alexander McCall Smith rights sight thinking Who can't like pigs? They're wonderful creatures! I've always liked pigs. Alexander McCall Smith creatures wonderful pigs I've also long since realized that the way to really engage children is to give out prizes; it's amazing how it concentrates their minds. Alexander McCall Smith giving long children We should be careful of the insults we fling at others, lest they return and land at our feet, newly minted to apply to those who had first coined them. Alexander McCall Smith land feet life
