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" I've certainly always had a very high regard for Botswana and so I paint a very good picture of the country and I've never pretended to be painting an entirely realistic picture. "
Alexander McCall Smith
Paint
Good
Country
Related Quotes:
" Wherever I go in the world, people all know about Scotland Street and are always asking me about what's going to happen to the characters next. "
Alexander McCall Smith
Me
Always
People
" As a writer I've learned certain lessons. One of them is to be careful about how you put a view, and to bear in mind how easily and readily you'll be misinterpreted. "
Alexander McCall Smith
How
Mind
View
" Manners are the basic building blocks of civil society. "
Alexander McCall Smith
Civil
Society
Basic
" Every novel presents a slice of life. A noir policier for example presents one slice, one that perhaps addresses social dysfunction or some sort of pathology, while mine present a slice that is more upbeat and affirmative. "
Alexander McCall Smith
Mine
Present
Example
" Well, I'd say all of us are a combination of moods and emotions. In my day to day life I don't go around skipping, but at times one can feel sheer exhilarating joy at the world. "
Alexander McCall Smith
Feel
Day
Emotions
" Serial novels have an unexpected effect; they hook the writer as well as the reader. "
Alexander McCall Smith
Effect
Writer
Unexpected
" Any author of fiction will tell you that characters don't need to be told what to do. "
Alexander McCall Smith
Tell
Will
Any
" I'm very interested in tea. I wouldn't mind being involved in some aspect of the tea industry. "
Alexander McCall Smith
Tea
Some
Involved
" It seems to me that we're in danger of losing sight of certain basic civic values in society by allowing the growth of a whole generation of people who really have no sense of attachment to society. "
Alexander McCall Smith
Growth
Me
People
" Who can't like pigs? They're wonderful creatures! I've always liked pigs. "
Alexander McCall Smith
Pigs
Like
Wonderful
" The local community is very important in one's life; the feelings of identification with a place and people. "
Alexander McCall Smith
Feelings
Place
People
" That my philosophy of life is, as far as possible, one of enjoyment. I'm not nihilistic. "
Alexander McCall Smith
Possible
Philosophy
Enjoyment
" Every single day, I get letters - very moving, overwhelming letters - testifying how much my books have meant to people in times of crisis in their lives, when they were very ill, say. If I ever doubted that writing could play an important part in people's lives, I don't doubt that now. "
Alexander McCall Smith
People
Writing
Important
" 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
World
Creative
Creating
" One of the most destructive things that's happening in modern society is that we are losing our sense of the bonds that bind people together - which can lead to nightmares of social collapse. "
Alexander McCall Smith
Lead
Losing
Together
" But you cannot expect every writer to dwell on human suffering. I think my books do deal with grave issues. People who say they are too positive probably haven't read them. "
Alexander McCall Smith
Positive
Suffering
Think
" I have three older sisters, so we were a reasonably large family and, in general, a happy one. "
Alexander McCall Smith
Older
Family
Three
" The wider your readership, the greater the chances of offending your readers. "
Alexander McCall Smith
Wider
Your
Greater
" It's through the small things that we develop our moral imagination, so that we can understand the sufferings of others. "
Alexander McCall Smith
Moral
Small Things
Small
" Painters aren't expected to paint bleak pictures, are they? "
Alexander McCall Smith
Expected
Pictures
Painters
" I'm interested in character and dialogue and exchange of ideas. "
Alexander McCall Smith
Dialogue
Ideas
Exchange
" You do not have to ladle on the impasto to make a point about human frailty or ambitions. "
Alexander McCall Smith
Point
Make
Human
" I would never inflict my bassoon on anybody really other than the long suffering audiences that come to the concerts of The Really Terrible Orchestra; which actually is really terrible. "
Alexander McCall Smith
Long
Come
Never
" The Okavango Delta is an astonishing sight: the great Okavango River, rather than flow towards the sea, flows inland, into the sands of the Kalahari. "
Alexander McCall Smith
Flow
Sight
Sea