A traditional house smelled of wood smoke, the earth, and of thatch; all good smells, the smell of life itself.

— Alexander McCall Smith

Bertie stared at his mother. She spoils things, he thought. All she ever does is spoil things. He had not started this conversation, and it was not his fault that they were now talking about Grey Owl. He sounded rather a nice man to Bertie. Any why should he not dress up in feathers and live in the forests if that was what he wanted to do? It was typical of his mother to try to spoil Grey Owl's fun.

— Alexander McCall Smith

Boys, men," she said. "They're all the same. They think that this [their manhood] is something special, and they're all so proud of it. They do not know how ridiculous it is.

— Alexander McCall Smith

But he'll never be fully recognized, because Scots literature these days is all about complaining and moaning and being injured in one's soul.

— Alexander McCall Smith

... But I do like the idea of household gods--shall we get some? A set of little statues and bring the boys up to believe in them?"" I hope they believe in something," said Else. 'Imagine believing in nothing at all--not even in love, or justice, or any of the things that can make people passionate."" Such as a country?" Elspeth thought about this. "I suppose there are lots of people who believe in Scotland. Or the European Union, for that matter. Their belief enables them to ... well, to talk about the future with enthusiasm. They don't like things as they are, and they are convinced that things will be much improved once they are otherwise."" Well, why not?" asked Matthew." I didn't say there was any reason why not. I'm just commenting on that sort of belief. The trouble is that it might make discussion difficult. If somebody believes to strongly in one particular solution to the world's problems, then it may obscure the nuances. That's all I was saying." Else paused. "They may not see that there are others who have a different view. You can love things in a lot of different ways, can't you?

— Alexander McCall Smith

Can you forgive her? Can you do that? There was no response. Because if you can start to forgive, then it will become easier. And? And then you will be able to forgive yourself—and ask others to forgive you.

— Alexander McCall Smith

…did it make a difference if the remark never got back to the person about whom it was made? She thought not. The harm is done when the words are uttered: that is the act of belittlement, the act of diminishing the other, and it is that act which would cause pain to the victim. You said that about me? The wrong was located in the making of the cruel remark, rather than in the pain it might later cause.

— Alexander McCall Smith

Dieting was cruel; it was an abuse of human rights. Yes, that's what it was, and she should not allow herself to be manipulated in this way. She stopped herself. Thinking like that was nothing more than coming up with excuses for breaking the diet. MMA Remote was made of sterner stuff than that, and so she persisted.

— Alexander McCall Smith

Do you realize that people die of boredom in London suburbs? It's the second-biggest cause of death among the English in general. Sheer boredom...

— Alexander McCall Smith

Everything, all those great things, had happened so far away--or so it seemed to [MMA Remote] at the time. The world was made to sound as if it belonged to other people--to those who lived in distant countries that were so different from Botswana; that was before people had learned to assert that the world was theirs too, that what happened in Botswana was every bit as important, and valuable, as what happened anywhere else.

— Alexander McCall Smith