Top 51 Quotes by Alexander McCall Smith

About Alexander McCall Smith

These are some quotes by Scottish author Alexander McCall Smith Writer, who was born on August 24, 1948.

It's through the small things that we develop our moral imagination, so that we can understand the sufferings of others.

It's through the small things that we develop our moral imagination, so that we can understand the sufferings of others.

Alexander McCall Smith

I've always had a creative urge and I get immense satisfaction from creating something because it feels like I'm making sense of the world and imposing order on it.

I've always had a creative urge and I get immense satisfaction from creating something because it feels like I'm making sense of the world and imposing order on it.

Alexander McCall Smith

I think people in Botswana are pleased that my books paint a positive picture of their lives and portray the country as being very special. They've made a great success of their country, and the people are fed up with the constant reporting of only the problems and poverty of the continent. They welcome something which puts the positive side.

Alexander McCall Smith

My wife Elizabeth and I started The Really Terrible Orchestra for people like us who are pretty hopeless musicians who would like to play in an orchestra. It has been a great success. We give performances; we've become the most famous bad orchestra in the world.

Alexander McCall Smith

Fiction is able to encompass books that are bleak and which dwell on the manifold and terrible problems of our times. But I don't think that all books need to have that particular focus.

Fiction is able to encompass books that are bleak and which dwell on the manifold and terrible problems of our times. But I don't think that all books need to have that particular focus.

Alexander McCall Smith

The wider your readership, the greater the chances of offending your readers.

The wider your readership, the greater the chances of offending your readers.

Alexander McCall Smith

Manners are the basic building blocks of civil society.

Manners are the basic building blocks of civil society.

Alexander McCall Smith

Baboons take a bit of getting to know but, apparently, once you break the ice, so to speak, they are complex and interesting creatures with elaborate societies.

Baboons take a bit of getting to know but, apparently, once you break the ice, so to speak, they are complex and interesting creatures with elaborate societies.

Alexander McCall Smith

I just focus on getting the first scene right, with a few lines about the overall plot, and then the book grows organically.

I just focus on getting the first scene right, with a few lines about the overall plot, and then the book grows organically.

Alexander McCall Smith

Serial novels have an unexpected effect; they hook the writer as well as the reader.

Serial novels have an unexpected effect; they hook the writer as well as the reader.

Alexander McCall Smith

Copyright © Softland 2016-2026. All rights reserved.