James Herriot

“Caution is often a virtue, but in your case you carry it too far. It's a little flaw in your character and…

— James Herriot

Over the years I knew her she always looked at me like that - as though I was a quite pleasant but…

— James Herriot

“All young animals are appealing but the lamb has been given an unfair share of charm.”

— James Herriot

At times it seemed unfair that I should be paid for my work; for driving out in the early morning with the…

— James Herriot

“After that first crowded day I retired to one of those green-tiled sanctuaries and lathered myself with a new bar of a…

— James Herriot

“As I trailed dumbly up the next flight it seemed strange that we had never said goodbye. We didn’t know when, if…

— James Herriot

“Everybody was asleep. Everybody except me, James Herriot, creeping sore and exhausted towards another spell of hard labour. Why the hell had…

— James Herriot

“My mind went back to my school-days and an old gentleman talking to the class about careers. He had said: “If you…

— James Herriot

“Animals are unpredictable things so our whole life is unpredictable. It’s a long tale of little triumphs and disasters and you’ve got…

— James Herriot

“I can’t bear it, Mr. Herriot. He was like a Christian was that pig, just like a Christian.”

— James Herriot

I will write another book if I feel like it.

— James Herriot

“I had discovered something, discovered something by accident. That ewe’s life had been saved not by medicinal therapy but simply by stopping…

— James Herriot

I could do terrible things to people who dump unwanted animals by the roadside.

— James Herriot

“Old Herriot may be limited in some respects, but by God, he can wrap a cat.”

— James Herriot

They can't find my house now because I keep it very quiet where I live.

— James Herriot

Dogs like to obey. It gives them security.

— James Herriot

If I had been a little dog I'd have gone leaping and gambolling around the room wagging my tail furiously.

— James Herriot

I seem to have spent a good part of my life - probably too much – in just standing and staring.

— James Herriot

“When they rolled into Darrowby in the small hours most of the occupants of the bus were unconscious.”

— James Herriot

For years I used to bore my wife over lunch with stories about funny incidents.

— James Herriot

I am never at my best in the early morning, especially a cold morning in the Yorkshire spring with a piercing March…

— James Herriot

I think it was the beginning of Mrs. Bond's unquestioning faith in me when she saw me quickly enveloping the cat till…

— James Herriot

“Bernard’s had ‘is hand”

— James Herriot

If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot…

— James Herriot

I love writing about my job because I loved it, and it was a particularly interesting one when I was a young…

— James Herriot