---
title: "1 Taken Years Quotes By John Burnside"
description: "1 Taken Years quotes by John Burnside. Plus more from John Burnside and more Taken Years sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c75/john-burnside-8167_art_he-was-someone-who-had-to-live-alone-som_1377050.jpg"
---

> [“He was someone who had to live alone, someone who found it difficult to be with others for any length of time, because he only had one mode - that discreet art of withdrawal which had, no doubt, taken him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burnside/he-was-someone-who-had-to-live-alone-someone-who-found-it-difficult/)

[John Burnside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burnside/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c75/john-burnside-8167_art_he-was-someone-who-had-to-live-alone-som_1377050.jpg)

## More by John Burnside

> [In many traditions, hawks are sacred: Apollo's messengers for the Greeks, sun symbols for the ancient Egyptians and, in the case of the Lakota…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burnside/in-many-traditions-hawks-are-sacred-apollo-s-messengers-for-the/)

[John Burnside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burnside/)

> [The poem builds in my mind and sits there, as if in a register, until the poem, or a piece of a longer poem,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burnside/the-poem-builds-in-my-mind-and-sits-there-as-if-in-a-register-until/)

[John Burnside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burnside/)

> [Usually, I would mistrust a book if it took that long to write. Usually, if it isn't done in two years, I suspect there's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burnside/usually-i-would-mistrust-a-book-if-it-took-that-long-to-write-usually/)

[John Burnside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burnside/)

> [This is a truth that should be repeated like a mantra: to have any chance of a ful - filling life, we require not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burnside/this-is-a-truth-that-should-be-repeated-like-a-mantra-to-have-any/)

[John Burnside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burnside/)

> [My father was one of those men who sit in a room and you can feel it: the simmer, the sense of some unpredictable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burnside/my-father-was-one-of-those-men-who-sit-in-a-room-and-you-can-feel-it/)

[John Burnside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burnside/)

> [“There are days when that dark face is something I can think of as a friend – a primal energy that carries me forward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burnside/there-are-days-when-that-dark-face-is-something-i-can-think-of-as-a/)

[John Burnside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burnside/)

> [I remember how, back in the 1980s, the Scottish Flow Country became an object of bemused controversy as rich celebrities and businessmen from south…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burnside/i-remember-how-back-in-the-1980s-the-scottish-flow-country-became-an/)

[John Burnside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burnside/)

> [The great pleasure that comes from reading poets such as Mark Doty and Marianne Moore is the realisation that the essential virtues - compassion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burnside/the-great-pleasure-that-comes-from-reading-poets-such-as-mark-doty/)

[John Burnside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burnside/)

> [My second, third and fourth novels were mistakes, essentially.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burnside/my-second-third-and-fourth-novels-were-mistakes-essentially/)

[John Burnside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burnside/)

> [I remember a nightfall from childhood, far from home and off the known track: I'd been walking with some older boys, but they ran…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burnside/i-remember-a-nightfall-from-childhood-far-from-home-and-off-the-known/)

[John Burnside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burnside/)

> [One day I was talking about what I was going to do next, and just found myself announcing it: 'I'm going to write a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burnside/one-day-i-was-talking-about-what-i-was-going-to-do-next-and-just/)

[John Burnside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burnside/)

> ['The Asylum Dance' was written after I'd moved back to Scotland and was a response to moving to my old home area of Fife.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burnside/the-asylum-dance-was-written-after-i-d-moved-back-to-scotland-and-was/)

[John Burnside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burnside/)

> [I have never understood why so many gardeners favour straight lines and narrow, regulated borders; perhaps they think wildness could work only in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burnside/i-have-never-understood-why-so-many-gardeners-favour-straight-lines/)

[John Burnside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burnside/)

> [The son of a Fife mining town sledder of coal-bings, bottle-forager, and picture-house troglodyte, I was decidedly urban and knew little about native fauna,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burnside/the-son-of-a-fife-mining-town-sledder-of-coal-bings-bottle-forager/)

[John Burnside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burnside/)

> [ “Everything stayed hidden \[…\] it was all secret – known by anyone who cared to know, but unacknowledged, like a priest’s feverish brightness around… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burnside/everything-stayed-hidden-it-was-all-secret-known-by-anyone-who-cared/)

[John Burnside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burnside/)

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