The telling of a story, like virtually everything in this life, was always made all the easier by a cup of tea. — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
“There were times when life’s problems were convincingly outweighed by its possibilities, and this, she felt, was one.” — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
“Self-doubt was a luxury, as, perhaps, was the examined life. And yet the examined life, as the adage had it, was the… — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
Well, I'd say all of us are a combination of moods and emotions. In my day to day life I don't go… — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
“Like so many women, her life seemed to be all about the needs of others. Auden had said something about that, she… — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
We should be careful of the insults we fling at others, lest they return and land at our feet, newly minted to… — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
“...thinking about somebody every day of his life... oh yes, he said to himself. Oh yes, you do. You think about somebody.… — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
“Regular maps have few surprises: their contour lines reveal where the Andes are, and are reasonably clear. More precious, though, are the… — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
I write four books a year. I'm very fortunate that I write quickly; around 3,500 words a day. Being strict about delineating… — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
“We find what we are looking for in life, her father had once said to her, which was true—if you look for… — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
“You simply could not help everybody; but you could at least help those who came into your life.” — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
Simple questions--and simple answers--were what we needed in life. That was what Mma Ramotswe believed. Yes. — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
“Of course you could not allow yourself to think too much about these issues. One had to get on and to attend… — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
Every novel presents a slice of life. A noir policier for example presents one slice, one that perhaps addresses social dysfunction or… — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
“None of us knows how we will cope with snakes until the moment arises, and then most of us find out that… — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
“...She was, in fact, often wrong--and knew it. Life became difficult when those who were often wrong did not know it.” — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
“Hospitals were to her a memento mori in bricks and mortar; an awful reminder of the inevitable end that was coming to… — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
It was time to take the pumpkin out of the pot and eat it. In the final analysis, that was what solved… — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
“...when she had those dreams at night, he was there, as if he had never died, although she knew, even in the… — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
If you lose sight of the smaller accomplishments , you end up with an imbalance in your life. — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
“It had always struck her as wrong that we should judge ourselves-or, more usually, others-by single acts, as if a single snapshot… — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
“good things that we have in life are on temporary loan, at best, and can be taken away from us in an… — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
“ Charity begins at home. Was that a narrow, selfish adage or was it simply an inescapable, bedrock fact of life in… — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
“old-fashioned, gentle Scottish physician, unmoved by the considerations of profit and personal gain that could so disfigure medicine. That doctors should consider themselves businessmen… — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
“She had not made a lot of money, but she had not made a loss, and she had been happy and entertained. That counted… — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
And that, in a way, was the burden of being a philosopher: one knew what one had to do, but it was so often… — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
“To use strong language, she thought, was a sign of bad temper and lack of concern for others. Such people were not clever or… — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
“Men are very sensitive, Mma Makutsi. You would not always think it to look at them, but they are. They do not like you… — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
“He is a good man, but even a good man can fall for a glamorous woman. That is well known.” “That is very well… — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
“And then the second thing you have to do is go and see your son. That is a duty of love, Andrew. It's as… — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
“Because laughs never die away entirely,” said Jamie. “At least, if you believe in Marconi.” — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
“The trouble with having a conscience, she said to herself, is that it never sleeps.” — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
“And if there's bad behaviour," Mma Potokwane went on. "If there's bad behaviour, the quickest way of stopping it is to give more love.… — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
“Has he not got a wife back wherever he comes from? Is there no wife to say, ‘You must not go off and visit… — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
