The wider your readership, the greater the chances of offending your readers. Alexander McCall Smith More Quotes by Alexander McCall Smith More Quotes From Alexander McCall Smith 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. Alexander McCall Smith issuesbookthinking I am often thanked by people for inventing the term traditionally built. The people who give me thanks for this are often traditionally built themselves. Alexander McCall Smith thanksgivingpeople It was the same with friendship. Disagreement between friends and spouses, too had to be carefully handled. If the time you spent with friends was consumed by disagreement, then there was no room for the essence of friendship, which was a sharing of the world. And that sharing involved seeing things the same way, or at least seeing things through the eyes of the friend. Alexander McCall Smith eyeessenceworld But don't we often lie to people we love, or not tell them things, precisely because we love them? Alexander McCall Smith lovelyingpeople Painters aren't expected to paint bleak pictures, are they? Alexander McCall Smith bleakpainterpaint New York is a wonderful place to be up, an awful place to be down. Alexander McCall Smith awfulnew-yorkwonderful Edinburgh used to be a haughty city. Alexander McCall Smith edinburghusedcities Botswana is actually very peaceful. It's democratic. It never was in debt. They've been fortunate, they've had diamonds. Alexander McCall Smith debtdemocraticpeaceful As a writer, you have to realize that people want to like the characters, so you have to be careful to keep them involved. Alexander McCall Smith wantcharacterpeople We are all tempted, Mma. We are all tempted when it comes to cake. Alexander McCall Smith mmacaketemptation Every novel presents a slice of life. A noir policier for example presents one slice, one that perhaps addresses social dysfunction or some sort of pathology, while mine present a slice that is more upbeat and affirmative. Alexander McCall Smith noirdysfunctionexample To lose a child ... was something that could end one's world. One could never get back to how it was before. The stars went out. The moon disappeared. The birds became silent. Alexander McCall Smith starsinspirationalchildren That my philosophy of life is, as far as possible, one of enjoyment. I'm not nihilistic. Alexander McCall Smith life-philosophylife-isphilosophy Daughters could survive a powerful mother, but boys found it almost impossible. Such boys were often severely damaged and spent the rest of their lives running away from their mothers, or from anybody who remotely reminded them of their mothers; either that, or they became their mothers, in a desperate, misguided act of psychological self defence. Alexander McCall Smith daughtermotherrunning The good were worthy of note because they battled and that battle was a great story, whereas the evil were evil because of moral laziness, or weakness, and that was ultimately a dull and uninteresting affair. Alexander McCall Smith weaknessbattleevil 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. Alexander McCall Smith kindnessmenthinking I am just a tiny person in Africa, but there is a place for me, and for everybody, to sit down on this earth and touch it and call it their own. Alexander McCall Smith tinypersonsearth I write four books a year. I'm very fortunate that I write quickly; around 3,500 words a day. Being strict about delineating my writing time and personal life, as well as keeping distractions at bay, is the only way I can accomplish this. Alexander McCall Smith writingbookyears It is the search for beauty...That is what it is. We find ourselves on this earth--gods and men--and we know that it is beautiful. That is one of the few things we understand--beauty; because it is there, in the world, and we can see it all about us. We want beauty. It requires our love. It just does. Alexander McCall Smith doebeautifulmen Simple questions--and simple answers--were what we needed in life. That was what Mma Ramotswe believed. Yes. Alexander McCall Smith mmasimpleanswers
