603 Quotes by Alexander McCall Smith

…products of soulless machines and relentless globalization…

These sociopaths,' he said. 'What do they feel like? Inside?'Isabel smiled. 'Unmoved,' she said. 'They feel unmoved. Look at a cat when it does something wrong. It looks quite unmoved. Cats are sociopaths, you see. It's their natural state.

She's sociopathic. She will have no moral compunction in doing whatever is in her interests. It's as simple as that.

...But although the rules are vagueAnd widely disregarded nowSome precepts remain: live with love - That is a rule we all can understand;Forgive those who need forgiveness,Which I think is everybody, more or less;Be kind - that, perhaps, is first and foremostIn any postmodern, new-fangledCode we devise for ourselves;Yes, be kind: love one another,And most of all tend with gentlenessThe small patch of terra firma That is allocated to each of us...

Why not imagine a talk with a pumpkin? Why not imagine going off for a drive with a friendly pumpkin, a companion who would not, after all, answer back; who would agree with everything you said, and would at the end of the day appear on your plate as a final gesture of friendship?

It was not edifying to dwell on the failings of others.

We are born to talk to other people, ... we are born to be sociable and to sit together with others in the shade of the acacia tree and talk about things that happened the day before. We were not born to sit in kitchens by ourselves, with nobody to chat to." Mma Ramotswe

This is a city of shifting light, of changing skies, of sudden vistas. A city so beautiful it breaks the heart again and again.

You know the best example of sincerity? The absolute gold standard? Who?Angus pointed to the door, outside which Cyril was waiting patiently. A dog. Have you ever met an insincere dog - a dog who hides his true feelings?Domenica looked thoughtful. And cats?Dreadfully insincere, said Angus. Psychopaths- every one of them. Show me a cat, Domenica, and I'll show you a psychopath. Textbook examples.