68 Quotes by Norman MacCaig

Anybody who writes doesn't like to be misunderstood.

When I go fishing I like to know that there's nobody within five miles of me.

Well, I love fishing. I wouldn't kill a fly myself but I've no hesitation in killing a fish. A lot of men are like that. No bother. Out you come. Thump. And that's not the only reason.

I used to fish the Border rivers, but nowadays you have to queue up for a shot and I can't stand that.

All those authors there, most of whom of course I've never met. That's the poetry side, that's the prose side, that's the fishing and miscellaneous behind me. You get an affection for books that you've enjoyed.

I find it's impossible for me to read Proust.

And the second question, can poetry be taught? I didn't think so.

Well, I'm a light traveller. I chuck things away.

All I write about is what's happened to me and to people I know, and the better I know them, the more likely they are to be written about.