“People did not spend enough time sitting and talking, she thought, and it was important that sitting and talking time be preserved.” — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
“There were times when an apology was best, she thought, even when one really had nothing to apologise for. If only people… — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
“You can only wear one pair of shoes at a time,” she said. “Rich people are like the rest of us—two feet,… — 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
“And he thought for a moment how stupid our society had become, that its nanny-like concern for risk should prevent one man… — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
Fiction is able to encompass books that are bleak and which dwell on the manifold and terrible problems of our times. But… — 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
“For a moment, Isabel's eyes met those of someone looking out of the window, a thin-faced woman with her hair done up… — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
“Everything, all those great things, had happened so far away--or so it seemed to [Mma Ramotswe] at the time. The world was… — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
“French philosophers had been able to admire Mao and his works because they did not have to live in China at the… — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
“Look at the way people try to make points of contact with others when they meet. Look at the way you instinctively… — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
“And Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni was at that moment on the verge of an exceptionally important thought, even though its final shape had… — 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
“Isabel observed an etiquette of the telephone: a call before eight in the morning was an emergency; between eight and nine it… — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
“And she, Isabel, had gone along with this and all the time what was happening was she was becoming increasingly possessive of… — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
The people with the strong, brave exteriors are just as weak and vulnerable as the rest of us. And of course they… — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
“The world was an imperfect place--as the events of the last few days had demonstrated--but within that vale of tears there were… — 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
Every single day, I get letters - very moving, overwhelming letters - testifying how much my books have meant to people in… — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
How many of us are happy to be exactly where we are at any moment?...only the completely happy think that they are… — 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
“The young rarely believe that they will not be able to get what they want, because there is always an open future.” — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
“Teachers were not allowed to beat children as they did in the past, although, Mma Ramotswe reflected, there were some boys-and indeed… — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
“Yes," she agreed, "there are times when I am unhappy and times when I am happy. There are more happy times than… — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
“There was no need for words, for there are times when words can only hint at what the heart would wish to… — 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
